Pastorek: Lift the hurdle

• By WILL SENTELL
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Oct 30, 2009 - Page: 12A

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Louisiana should increase the minimum score that public schools need to avoid state takeovers and other sanctions, Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek said Thursday.

Pastorek said that, each time the state has raised the bar, most schools have shown solid improvements or qualified for vital aid.

“Many of these schools need additional resources,” he told the Louisiana Accountability Commission, a key education advisory group.

The minimum passing figure applies to what the state calls school performance scores, which are like annual report cards that show how schools are performing.

The minimum now is 60, which took effect in 2005. The previous minimums were 45 and 30.

The state score this year is 91. The top score that schools can achieve is 180-200, officials said.

Results are based on key tests, attendance and dropout rates.

Pastorek and the state Department of Education want to raise the minimum score to 75 for the 2010-11 school year.

A total of 55 public schools out of 1,273 fell short of the minimum score of 60 earlier this month.

If schools had to achieve scores of at least 75, a total of 303 schools would have missed the mark, figures compiled by the department show.

The commission may make a recommendation on the issue Nov. 17.

Whether any increase would be endorsed by the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education is unclear.

Some commission members Thursday questioned the timing of any increase and whether it should be phased in.