St. Tammany public schools got a big pat on the back Wednesday when State Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek made a visit to Slidell.

Pastorek was the keynote speaker at the monthly Second Wednesday luncheon of the East St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce. That was followed by a visit to Abney Elementary School to check up on the school’s progress.

Pastorek told the Chamber audience that St. Tammany has one of the best public school systems in the state. He said the parish schools are above average in all indicators. When it comes to testing, over 75 percent of the students test at their grade level. The graduation rate for public high schools in the parish is at 78 percent, which is above the state average, and 58 percent of the graduates go on to college.

State Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek, center watches as Abney Elementary second grade students Bob Clark, left, and Tamija LaBeaud do their math lesson with their teacher. (Staff Photo by Erik Sanzenbach)

However, Pastorek said there is still a lot more to be done to improve the parish and state school systems. Since he took over as superintendent in 2007, he said there have been strides made in the state’s 1,300 public schools.

Pastorek, a lawyer by trade, got involved in public education when he served on the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education from 1996 to 2004.

In 1996, Pastorek made a goal to see that all public schools in the state hit a score of 100 out of 200 within 10 years.

A score of 100 means that 75 percent of the students are scoring at their grade level. In 1996, 40 percent of the state’s public students scored 100.

In 2009, that number has risen to 78 percent, but Pastorek said he wants to see that number be 100 percent.

The state has made progress toward that goal by fully funding primary and secondary education back in 2000.

“There has to be real financial investment in schools to make them work,” Pastorek said.

He lauded St. Tammany Parish School Superintendent Gayle Sloan for her hard work, and said that making a “significant money investment” in parish public schools has paid off.

He also said that rewarding and training teachers is also very important in education.

“Kids can succeed in school if the adults also do better,” Pastorek said. “Invest in teachers, that is so important.”

To illustrate the last point, Pastorek, along with Sloan and other school board officials visited Abney Elementary in Slidell. Pastorek said he has been getting good reports about Abney’s improvement over the past year, and he wanted to see it himself.

Abney’s principal Mike Alford has been trying to improve the lot of teachers at school by trying a program called TAP, or Teacher Advancement Program.

“It awards teachers by advancing them when they meet certain milestones,” Alford said. He said he visited an elementary school in Forest Hills that was under the TAP program, and he was impressed with the results.

Right now, Abney is under a pre-TAP agenda to see if staff and faculty like it. Alford said in January the teachers will vote on whether or not to become a TOP school.

Alford said there are already improvements in teachers and students alike.

“We went from lowest to highest performing school, and eliminated a lot of discipline problems,” Alford said. “It’s exciting when things come together.”

Pastorek was also impressed with the school. He chatted with several students in the first and second grade and asked them about their studies.

“They have made significant changes, and I wanted to see it for myself,” Pastorek said.

Despite the good news, the state superintendent said there is a long way to go for the state.

“I’m an impatient person, and we have to move now,” Pastorek said. “We need much more improvement and we don’t have a minute to waste.”