State Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek is an education reformer. Yet, for Pastorek, “It’s all about the children. The idea that “some kids just can’t learn” is just untrue.”

In addition to instituting state standards such as the LEAP and GEE while on the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, he also advocates for changes in the state to school boards and introduction of students as young as middle school to careers and job opportunities.

Some of the changes he would propose for school boards include term limits, no salary, no day-to-day management duties and new ethics. Pastorek said St. Tammany’s board does not have the problems he sees in other parts of the state. Hiring and firing of employees to make way for relatives and decision making involving personnel and uninformed decisions have led to problems in other areas, he said.

Pastorek

Optimism and determination are paramount in his job, part of which is to attempt to create a world-class education system while at the same time trying to bridge the gap between race and class in the classroom, Pastorek said.

Pastorek complimented St. Tammany Parish and reminded his audience at the St. Tammany West Chamber of Commerce breakfast the parish is rated third in the state. He complimented Superintendent Gayle Sloan for embracing new ideas.

“I have great respect for her,” he said.

However, he said as good as the parish system is, it stills only ranks a “C,” or three stars, for performance levels at grade level. The state has no five- or four-star districts.

When he came onto BESE in 1996, there was no standard of measurement for the state’s school districts. By 1999, Louisiana was credited with having one of the best-rated statewide accountability programs in the country with the institution of LEAP and GEE testing program.

Pastorek said when the LEAP began, 40 percent of fourth-graders were deemed proficient, or at grade level statewide. The standards were raised, and as they were raised, so did test scores. The statewide English language arts score for fourth-graders is now at 82 percent, more than double in about 10 years. However, the 18 percent who do not score at grade level are of great concern as retention and poor test scores are related to the drop out rate.

“Despite great gains, we are still rated as a state last in the country in education,” he said. “While we are progressing compared to the past, the rest of the country does not tolerant failure on any level.”

While retention in fourth and eighth grades gets a lot of publicity due to testing, the greatest number of retentions occur in first and third grades, he said.

“Poverty has driven out non-poor children from the public school system,” he said.

Of the 900 poorest performing schools in the state, 50 percent of the children are poor; the 400 poorest performing schools have a poverty rate of 90 percent. Statewide, the poverty rate in the public school system is 65 percent.

“You’re living in a Wonderland here; you simply don’t deal with the same kinds of kids,” he said.

In the past, children who did not perform well and dropped out of school could still get a job and support themselves. For example, 50 years ago, 70 percent of jobs in the state were unskilled. Today, only 23 percent of jobs are unskilled and most of those pay only minimum wage, far less than what it takes to support oneself.

“This means that high expectations for education is an economic imperative,” said Pastorek.

When a school stays at an unacceptable level, with test scores of 60 and 80 percent of students below grade level, the state can takeover the school.

Pastorek challenged St. Tammany’s school district to look at the test scores of each school to bring them up to the 10-year goal of everyone achieving the basic level of the LEAP test. The 20-year goal is that every school achieves the mastery level.

“Once you see yourself as the best school district in Louisiana, that’s what you’ll become. The incredible school district in St. Tammany will become even more incredible,” said Pastorek.

He said that one method of engaging students and motivating them is to introduce them to careers. Businesses should get involved to get kids connected to jobs and careers in middle and high school. St. Tammany is involved in a number of innovative programs, including the academies that attempt to connect to students. Certifications in auto mechanics and allied heath fields are available as well as popular programs such as the culinary ProStart program.

Pastorek said that in spite of the state’s budget woes, “This is the best time for public education in Louisiana because Gov. Bobby Jindal is determined to do what’s best for kids.”

The high of 800,000 students in the state’s education system has dropped to 630,000.

They have not left the state — they have simply fled the system. School choice tends to favor those who provide the best choices for the students who can afford them. His goal is to make the public school system so good that private schools will go out of business.