Pastorek says best corridor schools just ‘average’

The three highest-ranking school districts in the state – all of them along the corridor – are only average when it comes to academic achievement, Louisiana Supt. Paul Pastorek told a gathering of St. Tammany Parish community leaders this week. “Yes we’ve made a lot of progress, but ladies and gentlemen, we still have a long way to go,” says Pastorek, who was the keynote speaker at the St. Tammany West Chamber of Commerce President’s Roundtable. “St. Tammany Parish is the third-highest performing parish in the state of Louisiana. Only two others are better. But Louisiana is still last in the country.” St. Tammany ranks behind the Zachary and West Feliciana school systems. Pastorek noted that no school districts have yet achieved five- or even four-star status in the state’s accountability program. “St. Tammany Parish gets a ‘C’ on our scale,” Pastorek says. “So St. Tammany has something to be proud of, but there is much more that can be done. If you see yourself not as the best in Louisiana or the third-best, but as the best in the country, that is what you will become. And the community of St. Tammany will be even more incredible.” Pastorek emphasizes the state’s need to do a better job of educating poor children and preventing dropouts. – PBF