July 06, 2007

July 7, 2007, represents my 100th day as Louisiana’s State Superintendent of Education and leader of the Louisiana State Department of Education.  I knew when I agreed to accept this position that these first days would be difficult; transition is often that way.  While there have been many challenges, there have been many successes, too.  The children of Louisiana are the beneficiaries of the steady performance of each of you as you have persisted in your job, and we have tackled the challenges over the last few months and achieved success together.

Because you are important members of the Department of Education team, I want to report to you the progress that our LDoE team has made as well as the plans that I have for our future efforts. The primary areas of focus have been directed to the following:

• New Orleans and the Recovery School District;
• Addressing human capital needs of the LDoE;
• Focusing on the Legislative session;
• Outreach around the state; and
• Planning for the future direction of the LDoE.

I will review these in more detail below.

New Orleans and the Recovery School District

We were able to move quickly to address the human capital problem. We were very fortunate to have Paul Vallas agree to come to New Orleans to lead the district. We made the announcement on May 4, and he and his team have been spending weeks at a time in New Orleans since then.  He officially starts on Monday.

Perhaps more importantly, Paul has been able to assemble a diverse team of people to lead the district. Before, we were missing a Chief Operating Officer, a Chief Financial Officer, a Capital Facilities Director, and a Human Resources Director, to name but a few of the vacant key positions. These positions are now filled by people who are experienced professionals. In addition, we have added other people to the roster, making the RSD more capable than ever, but we still have a way to go.

I was told when I took this job that the opening of school in September 2007 was in jeopardy of being more chaotic than last year. However, while we still face significant challenges, our facilities team is going a great job of completing building construction; although the scheduled completion dates are very tight, we feel reasonably sure that we will have an adequate number of school buildings for the projected number of students. We will also have humane bathrooms, hot meals, and textbooks for all students. We have been very pleased with the response to the call for teachers and principals. Additionally, we are beginning the process of identifying which schools we will rebuild in New Orleans and where we will build them.

The Department of Education

We have now completed filling our senior leadership team appointments. They are as follows:

• Deputy Superintendent – Ollie Tyler will join the LDoE on August 1.
• Deputy Superintendent of Management and Finance – Beth Scioneaux was confirmed by the Senate on June 28, 2007.
• Assistant Superintendent for the Office of School and Student Performance – Dr. Scott Norton was confirmed by the Senate on June 28, 2007.
• Assistant Superintendent for the Office of School and Community Support– Donna Nola-Ganey will continue in her position.
• Assistant Superintendent for the Office of Educator Support – Sheila Talamo will continue in her position.

The senior leadership team above is working on evaluating the existing mission of the LDoE. Those individuals are coming together on July 23, 2007, to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the LDoE, core values of the LDoE, the existing mission of the LDoE, and which, if any, changes we should make for the future. We will be asking for your input in the next several days.

The Legislative Session

I began only thirty days before the session started.  Because of the terrific team of professionals in our LDoE, we were well prepared and very successful. We did have quite a bit of help from the Governor; her leadership and commitment to investing significant additional revenues in public education were essential. With the Governor’s leadership and the work of our staff, the Legislature approved the following expenditures:

In addition, we were able to address legislators’ concerns about the RSD; consequently, most bills aimed at changing the character of the RSD did not move. We also handled a bill for the Juvenile Court judges to make changes to the expulsion law and moved much closer to a law that requires that even those children who are expelled and suspended must be given an education. Finally, the Administration did give us most of the positions we needed to run the programs we have been asked to run, and I am very grateful.

Outreach around the state

I have had the pleasure of meeting with many folks around our great state in order to listen to their hopes and concerns about our public education system. 

I have met or visited with 61 of 69 superintendents. Many of those I have met or visited more than once. I was able to attend the Superintendents Association meeting in Lake Charles a few weeks ago. In all fora, I have listened to their concerns, and we have begun to address them. As recently as last week, a small number of representative superintendents met with my staff and me to discuss changes in the Title I reimbursements. It was a productive meeting.

In addition, I have been able to make a number of trips around the state, meeting with parents, educators, Chambers of Commerce, community leaders, education activists, legislators, city councilmen, mayors, and others. I started on my first day in St. Bernard Parish and have been to Monroe (twice), Shreveport, Lake Charles, Lafayette, New Orleans, Hammond, and Morgan City, to name but a few.

Planning for the future of the LDoE

The LDoE is a team of highly competent professionals who have been at the forefront of many successes for public education in Louisiana. I am proud to be associated with them. With Cecil Picard as Superintendent, Carole Wallin as Deputy Superintendent, and the leadership of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, Louisiana is now first on the lists that we want to be first on. 

Even so, there is more work to do. I have asked my senior leadership team to help me examine the strengths and weaknesses of the LDoE as well as its mission so that we may address the additional challenges that lie ahead. I have also called upon many people in our state, as well as national and international experts, to participate in continuing to build a public education system in Louisiana that is truly world-class. We will kick-off this planning effort later this month and hope to bring it to a quick conclusion in the fall. You will be hearing more about this in the weeks and months ahead.

I want to thank all of you who have worked very hard since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated our state. I know it has been nearly two years, and it has been difficult. But it is always about the mission – providing a very fine, quality education for our citizens’ children. Keep up the good work.

Paul G. Pastorek
State Superintendent of Education
paulpastorek@la.gov

First BESE Address

Remarks to Introduce Paul Vallas

Message from 3/30/2007