Senator leaves Legislature to take new education job
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The former chairman of the House Education Committee today begins a $110,000 per year job with the state Department of Education.
State Rep. Don Trahan, R-Lafayette, said his resignation from the Louisiana Legislature was effective at midnight Tuesday.
“It was just an opportunity that I could not pass up,” Trahan said Tuesday of his new job.
Trahan will fill a newly created position as director of external relations.
That means he will be in charge of spreading the department’s message to business leaders and public interest groups statewide.
State Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek, who made the hire, has complained in the past that key department initiatives lacked support and understanding from business and other groups.
The push to revamp public high schools — it is called high school redesign — is one example.
“We must build better and stronger connections with the business community as we move forward with preparing our students to be college and career ready,” Pastorek said in a prepared statement.
Pastorek said Trahan is uniquely qualified to fill the job. “Don’s background in both education and government make him a valuable addition to our team,” he said in the news release.
A special election to fill Trahan’s vacancy is set for Nov. 4 and, if needed, Dec. 6. Qualifying is set for Monday through Wednesday.
Trahan has been chairman of the House Education Committee for the past year. He was elected to the Legislature in 2003.
He is a former teacher and also worked for the city of Lafayette. Trahan also served for five years as an aide to Public Service Commissioner Jimmy Field of Baton Rouge.
Pastorek and Trahan clashed earlier this year on whether the state should make major changes in LEAP, which fourth- and eighth-graders have to pass for promotion.
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