The Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget sent a clear message to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education yesterday, refusing to back State Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek’s new $355,611 annual salary contract. The salary is worth almost $100,000 more than what predecessor Cecil Picard earned, and while Pastorek has been widely praised for the job he’s done post-hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Republican budget panel chairman Sen. Mike Michot of Lafayette says Pastorek’s new contract is flawed in its current form.
“We feel like the people are sending a message that these high salaries aren’t acceptable,” says Michot. “A business would never operate this way. BESE has a basic, generic contract not tied to specific performance indicators, and the contract also called for an automatic 6 percent annual increase for the next four years. We sent it back to BESE with very strong recommendations to tie it to an annual review and performance-based benchmarks.”
The budget committee’s rejection of Pastorek’s contract sets the stage for a similar showdown over the proposed salaries for Stephen Moret, the state economic development chief, and his deputy, Stephen Grissom. Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal intends to give Moret a $75,000 raise above what former economic development head Mike Olivier made under Democratic Gov. Blanco, while Grissom is in line for a $230,000 salary that almost doubles his predecessor’s. Moret’s total salary would be $320,000; the current $245,744 salary is already the highest economic development chief salary in all 50 states, according to The Times-Picayune .
“It’s very difficult to swallow a pay raise for people who are just starting in these jobs,” says Michot. The salary proposals for Moret and Grissom are included in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, and Michot wouldn’t be surprised by an amendment that adjusts their salaries downward by the time it reaches the state Senate.