ATLANTA — Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue was elected chair of the Southern Regional Education Board during the organization’s Annual Meeting yesterday. He succeeds Louisiana Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, who was recognized at the meeting for her service as SREB chair since 2004.
Perdue became governor and a member of the Southern Regional Education Board in 2002. Previously, he was a state senator from 1990 to 2002 and served on the SREB Legislative Advisory Council form 1994 to 1999. As governor of Georgia, he has worked to reduce class sizes, build more public school classrooms, and protect lottery funds for HOPE scholarships and pre-K improvement, among other actions.
Delaware Secretary of Education Valerie A. Woodruff was elected vice chair of SREB. She joined the SREB Board in 1998.
Louisiana Representative Francis C. Thompson was elected treasurer of the Board. Thompson’s association with SREB since 1980 includes service on the Legislative Advisory Council and Board.
Also recognized for their years of service to SREB were Paul E. Stanton Jr., the president of East Tennessee State University and the outgoing SREB vice chair; and South Carolina Representative Ronald P. “Ronny” Townsend, outgoing SREB treasurer.
SREB, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization based in Atlanta, Georgia, advises state education leaders on ways to improve education. SREB was created in 1948 by Southern governors and legislatures to help leaders in education and government work cooperatively to advance education and improve the social and economic life of the region. SREB has 16 member states: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. Each is represented by its governor and four gubernatorial appointees.
