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Created page with "{{Infobox officeholder |name=Charles Elson "Chas" Roemer, IV |image=Chas Roemer of LA.jpg |office = President of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education |te..."
{{Infobox officeholder
|name=Charles Elson "Chas" Roemer, IV
|image=Chas Roemer of LA.jpg
|office = President of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
|term_start=January 2012
|term_end = January 2016
|preceded= Penny Dastugue
|succeeded=
|office2= Member of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
|term_start2=January 2008
|term_end2=January 2016
|preceded2=Polly Broussard
|succeded2=[[Kathy Edmonston]]
|birth_date=February 2, 1970
|birth_place=
|party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]
|spouse=Tena Levatino Roemer
|children=Daughter Adeline<br>
One son<br>
'''Parents''':<br>
Frances "Cookie" Demler Thomas and [[Buddy Roemer]]<br>
'''Relatives''':<br>
[[Charles E. Roemer, II]] (grandfather)
|alma_mater=Loyola College Prep School ([[Shreveport]])<br>
[[Harvard University]]
}}
'''Charles Elson Roemer, IV,''' known as '''Chas Roemer''' (born February 2, 1970), is the [[Republican Party|Republican]] former president of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, the 11-member state body which sets and monitors education policy. A resident of [[Baton Rouge]], [[Louisiana]], Roemer led the majority faction of the board which claimed to seek reforms and innovations pushed by then [[Governor]] [[Bobby Jindal]] and continuing state Education Superintendent [[John White]].
==Background==
Roemer is the son of Frances "Cookie" Demler Thomas (born 1942) and former Louisiana Governor [[Buddy Roemer]]. He has a sister, Caroline Roemer Shirley,<ref name=hayride/> and a half-brother, Dakota Frost Roemer (born 1980), from his father's second marriage to the former Patti Kaye Crocker. Roemer's paternal grandfather, [[Charles E. Roemer, II]], was a farmer and businessman in Bossier Parish in northwestern Louisiana and the commissioner of administration for former Governor [[Edwin Edwards]], later an intraparty rival of Buddy Roemer's. His grandmother, Adeline McDade Roemer (1923-2016) of Bossier Parish, ran unsuccessfully in 1988 for Louisiana's 4th congressional district seat, which was had been held by Buddy Roemer for seven years prior to his governorship.
Roemer graduated from [[Harvard University]] in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], [[Massachusetts]], shortly after his father left the Louisiana governorship in defeat. He is the managing partner of Roemer, Robinson, Melville, and Company, an investment management firm headquartered in Baton Rouge. In 2001, he was named one of the “Top 40 Business Persons (then) under the Age of 40” by the ''Baton Rouge Business Report''.<ref name=roemerbio>{{cite web|url=http://www.bese.louisiana.gov/about-bese/bese's-district-6-representative|title=Chas Roemer|publisher=bese.louisiana.gov|accessdate=October 24, 2013}}</ref>
Roemer and his wife, the former Tena Elizabeth Levatino (born 1972), have two children, a daughter named Adeline for his great-grandmother, and a son.
==Political life==
Roemer's District 6 seat on the BESE board included Ascension, East Baton Rouge, Livingston, Tangipahoa, and Washington parishes. He was initially unopposed for his seat on the board in the nonpartisan blanket [[primary]] held on October 20, 2007. Four years later, in the primary on October 22, 2011, he led a field of three candidates, with 60,186 votes (44.7 percent). The [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] Donald Songy, the former Ascension Parish school superintendent, trailed with 38,681 (28.7 percent). The balance of votes was held by Republican Elizabeth "Beth" Myers, 35,732 (26.6 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 22, 2011.</ref> In the [[general election]] on November 19, Roemer defeated Songy, 49,967 (56.8 percent) to 38,067 (43.2 percent) and won all parishes except Ascension and Washington.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 19, 2011.</ref>
As he began his second term on the BESE board, Roemer's colleagues designated him as the chairman. Roemer supported letter grades for public schools, tougher evaluations for teachers, and expanded school options for students and parents.<ref name=advocate>{{cite web|url=http://theadvocate.com/home/5158341-125/bese-president-mulls-senate-race|author=Will Sentell|title=, BESE president mulls U.S. Senate race|date= April 9, 2013|publisher='The Baton Rouge Advocate''|accessdate=October 24, 2013}}</ref> Roemer's sister Caroline heads the Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools, one of the options he seeks to expand.<ref name=hayride/> Roemer himself is a founding member of The Children's Charter School, one of the first such institutions in the state.<ref name=roemerbio/>
Like Jindal and White, Roemer pushed for expanded [[charter school]]s in the education reform package. Jindal also pushed for improved teacher evaluations, as had former Governor Roemer prior to 1991. Jindal's educational voucher program was cut down by a court challenge. Jindal also opposed teacher tenure, but the supporters consider the protection to be essential to shield teachers from innuendo and the spread of falsehoods and to block political interference.<ref name=hayride>{{cite web|url=http://thehayride.com/2011/10/louisianas-educational-establishment-is-facing-rough-times-in-the-next-four-years/|author=[[Jim Beam]]|title=Louisiana’s Educational Establishment Is Facing Rough Times In The Next Four Years|date=October 30, 2011|publisher=thehayride.com|accessdate=October 24, 2013}}</ref>
A frequent dissenter on the BESE board, [[Lottie Beebe]], a Republican who also was the superintendent of schools in St. Martin Parish and an outspoken opponent of much of the Jindal-White-Roemer educational reforms.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://theadvocate.com/home/6604766-125/beebe-the-loyal-opposition-on|author=Will Sentel|titler=Beebe, the loyal opposition on BESE|date= July 29, 2013|publisher=''The Baton Rouge Advocate''|accessdate=October 22, 2013}}</ref> Beebe was unseated in the 2015 board elections.
Roemer and Education Superintendent John White were staunch advocates of the [[liberal]] Common Core]] State Standards Initiative school curriculum, which took effect in August 2014, despite court challenges from seventeen [[conservative]] state legislators and newly-announced opposition from Governor Jindal. Roemer said, "The message to teachers and districts in this state to be clear [is]: Common Core is law in this state and what’s what we’re going to move forward with."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetowntalk.com/story/news/local/2014/08/17/roemer-la-moving-forward-common-core/14209597/|title=Roemer: La. moving forward with Common Core|author=Mike Hasten|date=August 17, 2014|publisher=''The Alexandria Town Talk''|accessdate=August 18, 2014}}</ref>
Early in 2013, citing his concern for national issues, Roemer considered challenging [[U.S. Senator]] [[Mary Landrieu]] in her bid for a fourth term in 2014.<ref name=advocate/> Instead the principal Republican challenger to Landrieu was [[U.S. Representative]] [[Bill Cassidy]], then of Louisiana's 6th congressional district, who unseated the senator in a runoff election held on December 6, 2014.
Roemer did not seek reelection to the BESE board in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 24, 2015.<ref>''[[Moon Griffon|The Moon Griffon Show]]," September 10, 2015</ref> Two Republicans, [[Kathy Edmonston]], with 64,184 votes (47 percent), and Jason Engen, who received 25,995 ballots (19 percent), met in a runoff election on November 21 to select Roemer's BESE successor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://staticresults.sos.la.gov/10242015/10242015_MultiParish.html|title=Results for Election Date: 10/24/2015|publisher=staticresults.sos.la.gov|accessdate=October 28, 2015}}</ref> Edmonston defeated Engen, 83,849 votes (56.5 percent) to 64,523 (43.5 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 21, 2015.</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roemer, Chas}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Schools]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
|name=Charles Elson "Chas" Roemer, IV
|image=Chas Roemer of LA.jpg
|office = President of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
|term_start=January 2012
|term_end = January 2016
|preceded= Penny Dastugue
|succeeded=
|office2= Member of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
|term_start2=January 2008
|term_end2=January 2016
|preceded2=Polly Broussard
|succeded2=[[Kathy Edmonston]]
|birth_date=February 2, 1970
|birth_place=
|party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]
|spouse=Tena Levatino Roemer
|children=Daughter Adeline<br>
One son<br>
'''Parents''':<br>
Frances "Cookie" Demler Thomas and [[Buddy Roemer]]<br>
'''Relatives''':<br>
[[Charles E. Roemer, II]] (grandfather)
|alma_mater=Loyola College Prep School ([[Shreveport]])<br>
[[Harvard University]]
}}
'''Charles Elson Roemer, IV,''' known as '''Chas Roemer''' (born February 2, 1970), is the [[Republican Party|Republican]] former president of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, the 11-member state body which sets and monitors education policy. A resident of [[Baton Rouge]], [[Louisiana]], Roemer led the majority faction of the board which claimed to seek reforms and innovations pushed by then [[Governor]] [[Bobby Jindal]] and continuing state Education Superintendent [[John White]].
==Background==
Roemer is the son of Frances "Cookie" Demler Thomas (born 1942) and former Louisiana Governor [[Buddy Roemer]]. He has a sister, Caroline Roemer Shirley,<ref name=hayride/> and a half-brother, Dakota Frost Roemer (born 1980), from his father's second marriage to the former Patti Kaye Crocker. Roemer's paternal grandfather, [[Charles E. Roemer, II]], was a farmer and businessman in Bossier Parish in northwestern Louisiana and the commissioner of administration for former Governor [[Edwin Edwards]], later an intraparty rival of Buddy Roemer's. His grandmother, Adeline McDade Roemer (1923-2016) of Bossier Parish, ran unsuccessfully in 1988 for Louisiana's 4th congressional district seat, which was had been held by Buddy Roemer for seven years prior to his governorship.
Roemer graduated from [[Harvard University]] in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], [[Massachusetts]], shortly after his father left the Louisiana governorship in defeat. He is the managing partner of Roemer, Robinson, Melville, and Company, an investment management firm headquartered in Baton Rouge. In 2001, he was named one of the “Top 40 Business Persons (then) under the Age of 40” by the ''Baton Rouge Business Report''.<ref name=roemerbio>{{cite web|url=http://www.bese.louisiana.gov/about-bese/bese's-district-6-representative|title=Chas Roemer|publisher=bese.louisiana.gov|accessdate=October 24, 2013}}</ref>
Roemer and his wife, the former Tena Elizabeth Levatino (born 1972), have two children, a daughter named Adeline for his great-grandmother, and a son.
==Political life==
Roemer's District 6 seat on the BESE board included Ascension, East Baton Rouge, Livingston, Tangipahoa, and Washington parishes. He was initially unopposed for his seat on the board in the nonpartisan blanket [[primary]] held on October 20, 2007. Four years later, in the primary on October 22, 2011, he led a field of three candidates, with 60,186 votes (44.7 percent). The [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] Donald Songy, the former Ascension Parish school superintendent, trailed with 38,681 (28.7 percent). The balance of votes was held by Republican Elizabeth "Beth" Myers, 35,732 (26.6 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 22, 2011.</ref> In the [[general election]] on November 19, Roemer defeated Songy, 49,967 (56.8 percent) to 38,067 (43.2 percent) and won all parishes except Ascension and Washington.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 19, 2011.</ref>
As he began his second term on the BESE board, Roemer's colleagues designated him as the chairman. Roemer supported letter grades for public schools, tougher evaluations for teachers, and expanded school options for students and parents.<ref name=advocate>{{cite web|url=http://theadvocate.com/home/5158341-125/bese-president-mulls-senate-race|author=Will Sentell|title=, BESE president mulls U.S. Senate race|date= April 9, 2013|publisher='The Baton Rouge Advocate''|accessdate=October 24, 2013}}</ref> Roemer's sister Caroline heads the Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools, one of the options he seeks to expand.<ref name=hayride/> Roemer himself is a founding member of The Children's Charter School, one of the first such institutions in the state.<ref name=roemerbio/>
Like Jindal and White, Roemer pushed for expanded [[charter school]]s in the education reform package. Jindal also pushed for improved teacher evaluations, as had former Governor Roemer prior to 1991. Jindal's educational voucher program was cut down by a court challenge. Jindal also opposed teacher tenure, but the supporters consider the protection to be essential to shield teachers from innuendo and the spread of falsehoods and to block political interference.<ref name=hayride>{{cite web|url=http://thehayride.com/2011/10/louisianas-educational-establishment-is-facing-rough-times-in-the-next-four-years/|author=[[Jim Beam]]|title=Louisiana’s Educational Establishment Is Facing Rough Times In The Next Four Years|date=October 30, 2011|publisher=thehayride.com|accessdate=October 24, 2013}}</ref>
A frequent dissenter on the BESE board, [[Lottie Beebe]], a Republican who also was the superintendent of schools in St. Martin Parish and an outspoken opponent of much of the Jindal-White-Roemer educational reforms.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://theadvocate.com/home/6604766-125/beebe-the-loyal-opposition-on|author=Will Sentel|titler=Beebe, the loyal opposition on BESE|date= July 29, 2013|publisher=''The Baton Rouge Advocate''|accessdate=October 22, 2013}}</ref> Beebe was unseated in the 2015 board elections.
Roemer and Education Superintendent John White were staunch advocates of the [[liberal]] Common Core]] State Standards Initiative school curriculum, which took effect in August 2014, despite court challenges from seventeen [[conservative]] state legislators and newly-announced opposition from Governor Jindal. Roemer said, "The message to teachers and districts in this state to be clear [is]: Common Core is law in this state and what’s what we’re going to move forward with."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetowntalk.com/story/news/local/2014/08/17/roemer-la-moving-forward-common-core/14209597/|title=Roemer: La. moving forward with Common Core|author=Mike Hasten|date=August 17, 2014|publisher=''The Alexandria Town Talk''|accessdate=August 18, 2014}}</ref>
Early in 2013, citing his concern for national issues, Roemer considered challenging [[U.S. Senator]] [[Mary Landrieu]] in her bid for a fourth term in 2014.<ref name=advocate/> Instead the principal Republican challenger to Landrieu was [[U.S. Representative]] [[Bill Cassidy]], then of Louisiana's 6th congressional district, who unseated the senator in a runoff election held on December 6, 2014.
Roemer did not seek reelection to the BESE board in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 24, 2015.<ref>''[[Moon Griffon|The Moon Griffon Show]]," September 10, 2015</ref> Two Republicans, [[Kathy Edmonston]], with 64,184 votes (47 percent), and Jason Engen, who received 25,995 ballots (19 percent), met in a runoff election on November 21 to select Roemer's BESE successor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://staticresults.sos.la.gov/10242015/10242015_MultiParish.html|title=Results for Election Date: 10/24/2015|publisher=staticresults.sos.la.gov|accessdate=October 28, 2015}}</ref> Edmonston defeated Engen, 83,849 votes (56.5 percent) to 64,523 (43.5 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 21, 2015.</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roemer, Chas}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Schools]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Republicans]]