Draft:Dr. Cade Brumley

• Comment: The article needs significant restructuring. Consider putting his political positions in subsections. Promotional content needs to be removed. Fix WP:DEADEND. Grahaml35 (talk) 18:15, 25 November 2024 (UTC)

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Dr. Cade Brumley is the current Louisiana State Superintendent of Education. Dr. Brumley was appointed as State Superintendent in May of 2020 by the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.. His appointment was extended in January 2024. Under his leadership, Louisiana has risen to its highest national rankings on record, moving from 46th to 40th for PK-12 education according to U.S. News & World Report Best States rankings and to 4th on the Heritage Foundation's Education Freedom Report Card.

From bus driver to classroom teacher to State Superintendent of Education, he's held almost every position in K-12 education. In the higher education sector, Dr. Brumley has served as an adjunct professor at multiple universities teaching graduate coursework in education pedagogy and leadership.

Throughout his career, Dr. Brumley's educational philosophy has centered on pragmatic, common-sense solutions. He has focused on a back-to-the-basics approach towards academic excellence, redesigning high schools, bolstering parental rights, elevating teachers, and expanding educational freedom.

Dr. Brumley holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Health and Human Performance from Northwestern State University, a Masters of Education in Administration from LSU-Shreveport, and a Doctorate of Education in Leadership from Stephen F. Austin State University.

Louisiana State Superintendent (2020 – present):

During Dr. Brumley’s tenure as Louisiana State Superintendent, Louisiana K-12 education achieved its highest historical ranking, advancing from 46th in 2019 to 40th in 2024 on the U.S. News & World Report Best States rankings.

According to The Nation’s Report Card in 2022, Louisiana was 1st in the nation for 4th grade reading growth and moved from 42nd (2019) to 11th in the country for 4th grade reading proficiency among economically disadvantaged students.

In 2024, The Heritage Foundation noted that Louisiana K-12 education had the most significant improvement in the country, moving up to 4th on the national Education Freedom Report Card.

Dr. Brumley has led what he’s referred to as a “reading revival” in Louisiana, providing system leaders, educators, and families with innovative tools and resources to support children on a statewide push to improve literacy.

He has overseen the development of the “Fast Forward” initiative, transforming the high school experience to allow for students to graduate high school with college credits, career credentials, and/or apprenticeships.

He led the creation of Louisiana’s first K-2 accountability plan to focus resources and support in foundational grades while providing the public with a transparent look at outcomes.

Career

Dr. Brumley served as the Jefferson Parish School System Superintendent (2018-2020), DeSoto Parish Schools Superintendent (2012-2018) and Assistant Superintendent (2010-2012). Under Dr. Brumley’s leadership, DeSoto Parish Schools became an A-rated school district and went from being ranked 49th in the state to 9th. In Jefferson Parish Schools, Dr. Brumley helped improve academic outcomes, streamlined operations to push more funding into the classroom, and earned overwhelming voter approval for a market-responsive teacher pay raise - the first pay increase in over a decade.

U.S. Secretary of Education Candidate

In 2024, various news outlets reported that Dr. Brumley was under consideration as U.S. Secretary of Education by President-elect Trump. According to an Education Week article published in October 2024, Dr. Brumley’s name was mentioned as a possible Trump education secretary in conversations with Republicans in Washington who work on education policy. “I think he’s the most administratively effective and politically talented state superintendent on the right in America right now,” said Max Eden, a senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. “And he has an extremely folksy, pleasant, positive demeanor.” In September 2024 in an Education Week article, the executive director for Moms for Liberty, Tiffany Justice, named Dr. Brumley as her leading choice for Education Secretary if she were not selected.

Dr. Brumley was also mentioned in an article published by The Washington Post on November 14, 2024 as a potential pick for Secretary of Education in which it was stated that he “has won admirers for improved reading scores in his state. He also has opposed Biden administration rules protecting transgender students and said DEI efforts don’t belong in schools.”

The National Security Risk at our Door: Our failure to teach civics and U.S. history could destroy the nation.

Dr. Brumley authored an article published in The American Spectator in July, 2024 titled, “The National Security Risk at our Door, Our failure to teach civics and U.S. history could destroy the nation.”

In the article, Dr. Brumley expressed concern “the overwhelming majority of high school graduates do not understand, comprehend, or appreciate civics or U.S. history.” Dr. Brumley offered, as a solution to this crisis, that “We must and we shall teach students the fragility of liberty. We must and we shall teach students the majesty of our country and their obligations as citizens to safeguard the Republic. We must and we shall teach students the triumphs of our nation and the immense magnitude of sacrifices of those who came before us.”

School Accountability

Under Dr. Brumley’s leadership, Louisiana adopted a revised accountability plan in 2024 that was called the strongest in the country by the national education organization ExcelinEd. Louisiana’s revised accountability system raises the bar for academic success, enhances the value of career education, and makes it easier for the public to understand how schools are performing. It’s named “Grow. Achieve. Thrive.” after its three core student expectations. Louisiana expects all students to grow academically year-over-year, achieve proficiency on key content, and thrive beyond high school.

School Choice

In an OpEd published in March 2023, Dr. Brumley advocated for education savings accounts that would give parents the ability to use public funds for qualified educational services and expenses. In his letter, he argued that "parents know what's best for their children.". He also wrote, "Educational freedom also spurs economic development. When attempting to recruit and retain companies, Louisiana will face a competitive disadvantage without ESAs. Business owners, seeking locations where employee families can flourish, will select states where parents have access to good public schools but also educational flexibility. Without ESAs, we should be concerned about our ability to recruit and retain high-quality companies and the high-wage jobs that follow.”

Freedom Framework

Under his leadership, the Louisiana Department Of Education developed a K-12 Freedom Framework for Social Studies Student Standards, promoting a true understanding of American exceptionalism on a consistent quest to form a more perfect union. In an interview on Fox News in May 2022, Brumley said, "We live in the greatest country on the face of the earth, our kids deserve to know that. And our kids need to understand and appreciate that they have a responsibility to protect, sustain, and improve our constitutional republic."

The new standards were acknowledged in a Fordham Institute article that claimed, “The final standards are unabashedly pro American while leaning forthrightly into difficult and controversial topics. They address weighty themes while requiring more factual knowledge and specificity than previous standards, something that those on all sides of our history wars can applaud."

President Biden's Title IX Transgender Rules

In April 2024, Dr. Brumley sent a letter to school leaders in Louisiana instructing them to ignore the Biden administration's new final rules using Title IX as protections for transgender students at federally funded schools. "The Title IX rule changes recklessly endanger students and seek to dismantle equal opportunities for females," Dr. Brumley wrote in the letter.

In God We Trust

In August 2023, Dr. Brumley told Newsmax that a new law mandating “In God We Trust” be displayed in every classroom in the state is an exercise in patriotism and religious freedom.  He said, “It does not recognize one particular religion over another. It is just recognition that 'In God We Trust' is our national motto. Values in this country matter. And it's an attempt by our legislature, much like in the fifties, when there needed to be patriotism to defeat communism, that American values still matter in an exceptional country.”

COVID-19

Despite pushback from Louisiana's Democrat governor and the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education President, Dr. Brumley issued a policy that would allow parents to decide whether or not students exposed to COVID would attend school.  According to the American Enterprise Institute, Brumley led statewide COVID-19 mitigation efforts, resulting in the 3rd (2022) most aggressive return to school plan in the United States.

School Discipline

In July, 2024, as part of his "Let Teachers Teach" plan, Dr. Brumley pushed for stricter discipline policies in classrooms and schools. He stated, “The passive, softer approach is not working,” “My commitment is to restore law and order to the classroom.” “We should not tolerate simply making excuses for poor behavior,” “We should set an expectation, we should hold our students to that expectation, because that's what the world is going to demand beyond school.”

Social Emotional Learning

During debate over Early Childhood Education standards, Dr. Brumley stated, "Social emotional learning is considered by many to be a Trojan horse for critical race theory."

American Exceptionalism

In May 2022, Dr. Brumley appeared on Fox News during which he pushed back on wokeism with new social studies curriculum and claimed "America was exceptional from the beginning". "Truth still does exist in our country," Dr. Brumley said. "We want our kids to know that, and we believe that we can do better for our kids."

Critical Race Theory

In January 2022, Dr. Brumley was interviewed on KEEL 101.7FM during which he stated, "The fight is already here," "It's a fight in our state. It's a fight across the nation. I've been pretty clear - in public - that I would not put forth any standard that contained any element of CRT. I would also be very mindful to make sure that there could not be a standard that could open up a door for that in our schools."

Louisiana Republican Party Resolution

In 2023, the Louisiana Republican Party of Louisiana passed a resolution recognizing and commending Dr. Cade Brumley for the outstanding success he has achieved for Pre-K through 12th grade education throughout Louisiana