With two major players in Louisiana public education calling for state Superintendent Paul Pastorek’s head, Gov. Bobby Jindal is refusing to stick his neck out for the embattled school chief, offering support for Pastorek’s reform agenda while declining to mediate a détente between Pastorek and the opposition: the Louisiana School Boards Association and the Louisiana Association of Educators, both of which called for Pastorek’s ouster in the last couple of weeks.
“The last thing our children need at this moment is a bitter feud between the superintendent of education and the organizations that represent teachers and school boards,” says Louisiana Federation of Teachers President Steve Monaghan in a Monday press release issued by the LFT calling on the governor to bring the warring sides together. Pastorek serves at the pleasure of the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, of which he is a former member, but Jindal is widely seen as having sway in matters of public education. Pastorek earned the ire of the school board union with his push to reform the way boards operate — a push that went down in flames in the spring legislative session.
Now, with the LSBA and the LAE seeking Pastorek’s resignation, the governor is content to watch from the sidelines. “We still support the superintendent. We support the reforms that he’s trying to bring about to improve education for our students. You’re beginning to see some of those results in our state with rising test scores,” Jindal tells Gannett capitol bureau reporter Mike Hasten, adding, “Look, I think it’s important for all the groups that are interested in education to come together and work together. It’s past time. We’ve got to put the personality issues behind us. Not everybody is going to agree on everything, and that’s OK.”
Pastorek, who refuses to give up his post, has expressed disappointment with the teacher- and school board unions’ opposition and even offered Friday to meet with the LSBA. The LSBA declined the offer. U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, according to The Daily Advertiser, told a group of Lafayette Parish educators he would be willing to speak with Pastorek about school board grievances. For now, however, the school chief and the unions have settled into a cold war.
... written by another tax paying citizen but not American/ Lafayette , August 11, 2009 - 08:32 pm
I am a teacher for 11 years in the public system and all I can say is that I am disgusted......no one is looking at the most important thing : EDUCATION. There is no education in this state and nobody is willing to do a real reform to give to the students what they really need !
... written by .... , August 12, 2009 - 04:40 pm
Teachers cut down kids and do a lot of negative things. Most teachers don't care about EDUCATION, they care about getting a paycheck.
... written by give me a break , August 12, 2009 - 05:18 pm
Let's get real. Pastorek isn't interested in reforming public education. his aim is to replace it: with privatized education. This doesn't work. his grand experiment, the RSD, is going down in flames. his dept is lying about it at every turn and there are NO REPORTERS in this state who care to look at what is really happening down there. I'm sure privatized education will work just fine for the rich guys. maybe pastorek and jindal care only about the rich guys.
... written by ragin_cajun , August 13, 2009 - 04:57 pm
another tax paying citizen--
post a link to info about what is involved in "a real reform to give to the students what they really need !". I'm an engineer, I have 2 kids in private school, and I am very curious to learn more about what is wrong with public education and what can be done to fix it. How do we objectively measure if the school is educating the students. We all agree that La. public schools are bad, but why? What makes them bad? What are teachers not doing, governements, students not doing, parents? Are there public schools in America that are working well? What makes them different from Louisiana?
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