Pastorek Leaves Legacy of Change, Controversy in Louisiana

Louisiana state schools Superintendent Paul G. Pastorek resigned last week after a four-year tenure marked by aggressive efforts to raise academic expectations and rebuild New Orleans’ hurricane-ravaged schools.

Mr. Pastorek, 57, championed a number of sweeping policy changes as superintendent of schools in the traditionally low-performing state, including efforts to link teacher evaluations to student performance, assign individual schools letter grades, and expand charter schools.

Along the way, he angered teachers’ unions and local school board officials, some of whom saw his leadership style as imperious and thought he placed too much emphasis on testing without...