Paul G. Pastorek, Louisiana’s superintendent of education, says the way the state hammers out rules for its new “career diploma” will help determine whether it lands up to $200 million in the national competition for federal Race to the Top money.
The superintendent made his comments last week to the High School Redesign Commission, a state advisory panel that is reviewing some of the rules that will govern a controversial new curriculum for high school students.
One of the four key criteria for the program is state standards and assessments that prepare students for success in college and the workplace. Mr. Pastorek said the state has already gotten some indication that the new diploma could indirectly damage the states chances of being one of the winners, because there are questions about the rigor of the coursework students would complete to earn the career diploma.
