Here’s a legislative oddity: Two of state Rep. Barbara Freiberg’s colleagues in the House were her students at the University Laboratory School in Baton Rouge 25 years ago.
Rep. Scott McKnight and Rep. Larry Selders took Freiberg’s 10th grade English class, one year apart.
“She was tough but fair,” they said in unison in a recent interview.
Added Selders: “She had high expectations of everyone. She didn’t accept mediocre work. She held you to a high standard.”
Selders said he passed the class, which he took during the 1997-98 school year.
“Odds are I got somewhere around a C,” said McKnight, who was a year ahead of Selders.
The three of them recalled their experiences last week in the House, a day before the legislative session ended. All three are completing their first term, after winning election in 2019.
“We’re freshmen together,” Freiberg said. “That’s what’s so cool. We’re all beginners.”
The districts of all three include a portion of LSU, with the lab school in McKnight’s district. Freiberg and McKnight are Republicans, while Selders is a Democrat.
McKnight and Selders offered warm memories of Freiberg, who said her goal as a teacher was to “groom them to speak, well, write well and read well and to know a lot about our American literary heritage. We did a lot of creative things in that class, from acting out plays and bringing art and music into the classroom.”
Freiberg taught at the lab school for 18 years and also worked for the state Department of Education and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, which sets policy for K-12 schools.
Now retired, Freiberg, 74, previously served on the East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council and the parish school board.
McKnight, 42, is an insurance executive.
Selders, 41, is a social worker who focuses on mental health issues.
McKnight and Selders are lifelong friends after attending the close-knit lab school together for 10 years.
Freiberg and Selders are running for re-election, while McKnight is running to be the state treasurer.
So after four years of serving together, do McKnight and Selders still treat her as their teacher?
No, according to all three.
“I like the word friends now. That’s what we are now,” Freiberg said. “That’s kind of cool for this old lady. To be serving with two of my former students, gosh, what a privilege and honor.”