cation in the Shreveport-Bossier City area is on the dawn of a new era, but barriers at the local and state levels could stifle the potential for improvement, new local education leaders said.
“What education will look like in 10 to 15 years will not be recognizable to many of us because of the ways it will be delivered and ways we will be cooperating,” said Centenary College President B. David Rowe. “The ones who don’t cooperate, the ones who don’t change, the ones who don’t collaborate will be left behind.”
Rowe, Caddo schools Superintendent Gerald Dawkins, Bossier schools Superintendent D.C. Machen and Bossier Parish Community College Chancellor Jim Henderson are among the area’s newest educational leaders. Between them, they are responsible for educating about 70,000 students.
They all have vast experiences in education from working with the state’s technical and community colleges to more than 30 years in the same local school system. All four leaders, however, are relatively new to their positions — ranging from a few weeks to about one year on the job.