This week the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI) joined Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) officers in endorsing the thoughtful and comprehensive accountability framework crafted by the Louisiana Department of Education. The formula released today at BESE’s accountability council meeting will provide much-needed clarity to parents, students, teachers and schools after more than a decade of vague and misguided standards for evaluating educational quality.

‘Soldiers have been training for war at Fort Johnson (formerly Fort Polk) and the Joint Readiness Training Center since 1940, when they prepared for World War II. More than a million combat troops trained for Viet Nam there, so ‘training is in our DNA.’

Here is a message I received from one of my grandkids this week. “Hey JB, it’s your birthday, and you just turned 84, I know you will live for many, many more.“ I sure hope I do. I understand that I’m getting a bit older and that I cannot ignore life’s ending. But I’m not going to set around like some Shakespeare character thinking about death. I would hope it is much more productive for me to make the most of my current state in life. Play the cards we are delt. Then anticipate a lingering good ride.