The following is by guest columnist Don Whittinghill. Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek’s response to the Coalition for Louisiana Public Education follows.
The Voice of a Leader?
The self-styled White Knight of Louisiana education reform accuses the newly formed Coalition for Louisiana Public Education stakeholders of presenting nothing new except for seeking more money.
Apparently he fails to look into the mirror at his own greedy grasping for money for his favored schools. The Recovery School District has been spending at least 30 percent more per student than the average locally-run school system in Louisiana. Over the past five years RSD students have been funded by a combination of special federal grants, state department of education picking up some major expenses like insurance, free use of buildings built by the Orleans Parish School Board, and the largess of national foundations. While RSD per pupil funding has trended downward from in excess of $20,000 per student per year in the early days, to its current level of more than $13,000, RSD funding is still lavish by comparison.
Pastorek preaches that local education stakeholders’ pleas for equitable funding flies in the face of “a nearly $2 billion budget deficit.” It doesn’t take a CPA to challenge his distorted deficit claim. His boss, Gov. Bobby Jindal doesn’t see the same number. It is not likely that the Louisiana legislature will deal with such a number either. He continues to close his eyes to state revenue collections that are increasing above state estimates; and he pretends the error rate of those state estimates historically underestimate state income by hundreds of millions.
Pastorek habitually tends to over-react and to throw numbers largely unconnected to reality into his pronouncements. He still claims the RSD has made “unprecedented gains in student achievement.” His own web site reveals that the RSD schools remain the lowest performing in the state. His own web site reveals that the few RSD schools that seem to be progressing are really special cases whose core student data statistics are manipulated to make their performance look better than is real. And most of the RSD schools which practice selective enrollment and capped enrollment.
The non-educator Superintendent apparently can’t recognize an educator when he sees one. He claims the burgeoning coalition of public education stakeholders is “made up of staff and board members from these various groups”. Does he really assume that leaders of the superintendents association, the school boards association, the teachers and principals associations, and the parent teachers associations are so bold as to take a coalition public without broadly based support and authorization?
It is, perhaps, not so widely recognized that Paul Pastorek often acts first and then tells his hiring directors at the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. His most recent was a totally undercover recruitment of a new RSD superintendent. BESE members openly expressed disappointment that they had to come to Baton Rouge to find the search completed. No mention was made…even now…about his pay grade. One thing was certain it would likely make his new man the second highest paid staffer among the 45 DOE staff members earning in excess of $100,000 per year. Many of those high pay rates were set by Pastorek before BESE was informed.
The “extraordinary things taking place in K-12 public education” to which Pastorek refers in his news release are most often taking place because of the efforts of people represented in the new coalition. The growing list of national Blue Ribbon schools in Louisiana is largely governed by local school superintendents and school boards. Pastorek brags about the accelerated growth of high-performing/high-poverty schools showing outstanding growth in student achievement. He never acknowledges that none of those schools are RSD operated schools.
With sufficient funding to pay for extended day, extended week, and extended year schedules, Pastorek’s RSD still is incapable of breaking from the bottom of the list of school performance scores. Yet he challenges the 69 local districts right to demand equality of spending for their underperforming schools.
The Superintendent apparently believes that only he, and a small coterie of highly-paid associates, is motivated to “continue doing the right thing for kids.” His vision of the right thing includes bringing in a host of private companies to manage schools and to provide a varied menu of professional services that have one thing in common: They pull money out of the classroom.
The multi-millions in contracts that cause State Treasurer John Kennedy to stump the state, is largely subject to after the fact approval by the whole of BESE. An elite composed of the BESE president, finance chairman, and Pastorek substitute for transparent contract evaluation. But, when one looks at contracts for operation of RSD charter schools one finds that most skim 12.5 percent from all school funds into corporate profits out of state and away from Louisiana classroom use.
Contrived criticism, in Pastorek’s mind, seems to be that which questions his version of “truth.” His claims of progress in the RSD have been clearly challenged by education researchers. Even the Stanford CREDO finding that New Orleans charters did relatively better than charters nationwide was based upon two characteristics that Pastorek does not want discussed: 1. The CREDO results lumped RSD and Orleans Public School Board operated charters together and nine of the OPSB charters are far superior; and 2. The charters in New Orleans are largely selective-enrollment schools that choose students rather than welcome all.
One thing that Pastorek can rationally expect is that the new coalition is sending a message: “You haven’t seen anything yet!”
Don Whittinghill
LSBA Consultant
Here is Pastorek’s diatribe:
STATEMENT FROM STATE SUPERINTENDENT
OF EDUCATION PAUL PASTOREK
Reference: Coalition for Louisiana Public Education
“This Coalition — made up of staff and board members from these various groups — professes to speak for teachers, administrators, local school boards and others in its opposition to these reforms. And they only express dissatisfaction and disapproval — and present us with no alternative solutions to improve our schools – except to request more funding. The reality is that Louisiana is facing a nearly $2 billion budget deficit, and while funding to other programs has been reduced by 26 percent over the last three years, funding for the state’s MFP – the state’s largest allocation of education funding – has increased by 6.2 percent, from $3.12 billion in Fiscal Year 2008 to $3.31 billion in Fiscal Year 2011. Clearly some districts are facing difficult circumstances. But this situation emphasizes the need for all of us to analyze how we’re allocating our education dollars and to make necessary adjustments in policies, programs and expenditures to achieve the best outcomes for our students and provide necessary support to educators.
And these statements of defiance around reform are unfortunate for the thousands of educators, hundreds of local leaders, and the many communities across our state who have not only accepted change – but who are actually leading and pushing for reforms that are in the best interest of students.
We have some extraordinary things taking place in K-12 public education across Louisiana, including the work taking place in the Recovery School District. In the past three or four years, we’ve made unprecedented gains in student achievement in the RSD and statewide. But this kind of dramatic improvement is only possible when individuals and groups work smarter and make better decisions in classrooms, school buildings and board rooms. There is no doubt in my mind that’s happening. And we believe those who are making a difference and matter most in the lives of students are motivated to continue doing the right thing for kids – even in the face of this kind of contrived criticism.
Fortunately, for our students, the majority of our educators, policymakers and citizens recognize that despite our state’s remarkable progress, too many of our students are still behind in school. They know we can do better, and they’re serious about this work. They share our determination to move forward with a compelling sense of urgency and to ignore the grumbling of those who are unwilling to be inspired by our undeniable progress and the promise these changes represent for our children.”
Louisiana Voice 
Thank goodness for Pastorek. These establishment educators and bureaucrats have had decades to get us past the 49th in the country rating and have failed.
Why would anyone defend those guys???
I don’t normally respond to comments, but when they are so off the wall as to be almost laughable, I can’t resist the temptation.
It’s very easy to criticize when you’re on the outside looking in. You obviously don’t know what it’s like to have to confront irate parents who think little Johnny can do no wrong even though he is disruptive, never does a homework assignment, back talks the teacher and consistently makes D’s and F’s. Momma, of course, with her tattoos, flip flops, hair curlers and cigarette in hand, is “gonna call my lawyer ’cause you ain’t suspending my boy!”
You obviously have never been a teacher who has had to break up a fight between kids and because she intervened, is threatened with a lawsuit or worse, threatened with criminal arrest for “physically abusing” the combatants. In one recent case, a teacher broke up a fight and found herself being required to take a drug test!
You obviously have never been a teacher who has to clean up a child because he/she soiled herself or even comes to school filthy and hungry because parents were too lazy or unconcerned to do live up to their responsibilities at home.
You obviously have never had to contend with situations that occur when it comes to the teacher’s attention that a child has been physically or sexually abused. That’s heart rending but hey! Let’s pile on the teachers.
You obviously have never worked at a job where you had to spend your own money for classroom resources, stay up past midnight grading papers, pulled duty before and after school and as soon as school is out for the year, instead of the three-month vacation that critics of teachers love to snort about, you have to immediately begin preparations for the next school year, which by the way, is not 3 months away but more like 7 or 8 weeks. In those 7 or 8 weeks, you must clean up your classroom, remove old papers, sort textbooks, and purchase more classroom resources, again with your own money for next year’s class.
You obviously never taught home-bound children who are unable to attend school but still are entitled to an education. There are teachers who go from home to home to teach these children. They are a special breed about whom we never hear. They encounter all manner of home environments but still must attempt to impart knowledge to these children.
Yes, it’s so very easy to sit back, watch your NFL and NBA games and carp about how easy teachers have it. So when some kneejerk politician starts taking a hard line with teachers to further his own agenda, it’s just the ticket as far as you are concerned. Go Saints!
I have never taught, either, but two of my daughters are teachers. I have seen them cry at the plight of some of their students whom they are unable to help. I have seem them rage at the neglect some of their students suffer in their homes–and they are helpless to do anything about it.
I have heard mothers curse my daughters because their little monster was suspended because he kicked or hit a teacher. Have you ever taken an phone call from an irate, drunken parent at night when you’re trying to spend time with your own family? Didn’t think so.
Yes, it’s easy to criticize when you don’t know what you’re talking about.
Everything you say is the reason we should have school choice run by non government entities.
You see the administrators of the charter/voucher funded private schools are also free to kick kids out of school. No doubt those that are kicked out and still carrying vouchers will find schools that cater to their discipline problems.
You see with vouchers schools will spring up to handle special situations—ie your homebound student and will not be required to accommodate all comers. (Note parents will have to take responsibility too because nothing about voucher relieve them of preventing truancy. They will have to find a school for their kid so they will be much more apt to become involved in seeing their kids behave.)
It is foolish to continue government schools that have proven they cannot deal with such matters.
You sure do make a lot of assumptions about what I do and don’t do.
I feel sure your daughters can do more with the money we spend per student than the typical school board member or legislator or President that is spending it now so I am perfectly willing to send vouchered kids to their classroom. Of course I may be wrong.
Charter schools are a disaster. Nothing more than for-profit machines to enrich the richest among us. Charter school discipline is a joke! 2,700 quit charter schools in BR alone last year dissatisfied with the education/discipline (Advocate, July 5, 2010)…Vouchers won’t work. Private schools won’t accept most public schoolers and will keep only the best. What they take and expel (and the number will be high) will return to even weakner public schools now void of their best. I do, however, look forward to the private schools taking some public schoolers just for the entertainment of the havoc they will create. And if a nun or administrator grabs one to enforce their discipline they had better duck. When there are no schools willing to take on such behavior parents will drop out their kids in droves. If you think parents will shop for a school to cater their child’s needs, well, I am still laughing. Voucher schools will spring up to handle difficult children? Really? We already have those type schools and they will be no more effective under a voucher dream. We also thought charters would do well too, didn’t we? You don’t know what you are talking about. When was the last time you were in a public school classroom? As for Pastorek he was a failure. He did not want to account for his charter school failure, did not like repeated questions to defend them and quit. He spoke of accountability and could not expect it of himself; a real coward.