BATON ROUGE – The percent of certified teachers in Louisiana public school classrooms reached a 10-year high last school year, according to figures released Thursday.

The report, presented to the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, shows only 9.21 percent of Louisiana’s public school teachers were “uncertified,” or held “non-standard certificates,” during the 2003-04 school year.

That means 90.79 percent of Louisiana teachers met the state standards and were certified last school year, up from a 10-year low of 84.39 percent two years ago during the 2001-02 school year.

It marks the second year in a row that the percentage of certified teachers has increased. Before then, the state had decreases in the percentage of certified teachers for eight consecutive years.

“This is an excellent example of what our education community can do when it decides to work together to place caring and certified teachers in every classroom,” Gov. Kathleen Blanco said. “Our Blue Ribbon Commission for Educational Excellence, boards, universities, districts, schools, and communities are to be commended for the work that they have done to make teacher quality a priority. It is now our responsibility to support and retain quality teachers in Louisiana, in order to ensure all our children have a quality education experience.”

“I’m ecstatic with this report because having qualified teachers in our classrooms is the single most important factor in improving student learning,” State Superintendent of Education Cecil J. Picard said. “We know students who have an ineffective or unqualified teacher in the classroom three years in a row may never recover, and we know students who have effective teachers perform significantly better than those who don’t.”

“This encouraging report is a testament to the hard work of a host of people both in elementary and secondary education and at our colleges and universities,” Commissioner of Higher Education Joseph Savoie said. “It’s further evidence that Louisiana is indeed among the nation’s leaders in improving the quality of instruction for Louisiana’s school children.”

Picard said the improvement is the result of elementary and secondary education and higher education officials working together to come up with solutions and more specifically following the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Educational Excellence.

That commission has recommended programs that make it easier for people with degrees to become certified to teach, including the Teacher Practitioner and Alternate Certification programs. These programs have led to filling gaps in much-needed areas, especially in mathematics and science.

Picard praised the co-chairs of the commission – BESE President Glenny Lee Buquet and Board of Regents Vice Chair Frances Henry – for helping spearhead the efforts. “The Blue Ribbon Commission has had as its focus increasing the pool of qualified teachers in this state,” Buquet said. “We are delighted with the efforts of our teacher colleges and private providers who have been flexible enough to make programs available that have improved the abilities of our K-12 teachers.”

Louisiana’s universities are graduating more teachers who are already fully certified. This year, universities produced 200 highly qualified teachers more than last year, and university officials expect that number to grow again next year.

“These new teachers are graduating ready to walk into the classroom. The key, of course, is to pay them enough to keep them there and support them as they move student achievement to higher levels,” University of Louisiana System President Sally Clausen said. “We can’t afford not to support our teachers. The teaching profession is essential to our very own survival. It makes all other professions possible.”

Picard said other factors that likely have played a role include:

Significant pay raises given to teachers during the past eight years. Picard and Buquet spoke about the importance of BESE, Gov. Blanco and the Legislature continuing this trend.

The addition of programs that provide teachers with needed training and pay them more for doing so:

The Teacher Advancement Program, which aims to recognize and reward outstanding teachers, and provide a structure for job embedded staff development at the same time. Under the TAP system, good teachers can earn higher salaries and advance professionally, without leaving the classroom where they are needed the most. Several schools across Louisiana are participating in the program.

National Board Certification, which allows teachers to be paid $5,000 more per year. More than 300 teachers have already completed this certification and another 700 are in the pipeline.

The Milken Family Foundation Awards, which reward several teachers each year with a one-time $25,000 payment for teaching excellence.

“We must continue what we are doing, which obviously is working, and set out to do even more,” Picard said. “We should be proud of these improvements but be even more committed to improving student learning in our schools.”

The report was released on the heels of ACT releasing a report Wednesday showing state scores on the college readiness test reached an “all-time record high” and Louisiana high school students experienced the “greatest improvement” and “highest scores” in the 45 years since the state began using the test.

Earlier this year, Education Week magazine, the nation’s premier K-12 education publication, ranked the state’s efforts to improve Teacher Quality No. 5 in the country.

The magazine also ranked the state’s Accountability System No. 1 among the 50 states.