New education leaders are champions of independent charter schools and test-based accountability | NOLA.com

New education leaders are champions of independent charter schools and test-based accountability | NOLA.com:

New education leaders are champions of independent charter schools and test-based accountability

Two of the top education posts in the state went through their second changing of the guard in the space of a year on Wednesday. Gov. Bobby Jindal's pick, John White, won the job of state superintendent and then quickly named New Orleans native Patrick Dobard to succeed him as head of the state's Recovery School District.

EnlargeRusty Costanza, The Times-PicayuneRUSTY COSTANZA / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE Patrick Dobard, left, newly announced Recovery School District Superintendent, shakes hands with John White, newly appointed State School Superintendent, during a press conference at Joseph S. Clark Preparatory High School in New Orleans on Wednesday, January 11, 2012.Patrick Dobard Introduced as Head of RSD gallery(5 photos)

White, 36, won nine of 11 votes at the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, capping a swift ascent from his beginnings in a Jersey City classroom to the head of Louisiana's education department, where he'll govern a public school system with 50,000 teachers and nearly 700,000 students.

His decision to appoint Dobard to head the Recovery District will put an