Louisiana Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek recommended last week returning New Orleans public schools to local control, but not until the 2012-13 school year and only after they meet certain grading benchmarks.
He said about 10 of 68 New Orleans schools that are currently run by the state meet his eligibility requirements.
State law allows public schools taken over by the state’s Recovery School District to be returned to local control after five years. Dozens of schools that were removed from the local school board’s oversight after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 are nearing that mark.
The state board of education is expected to decide in December whether to keep the schools under state oversight, close them, or return them to the local system.
Mr. Pastorek, meanwhile, declined a 6 percent pay raise, worth $22,600 a year, citing the state’s fiscal woes.
