Goal 1:
To be a Learning Enterprise in which all Louisiana businesses, institutions and citizens are actively engaged in the pursuit of knowledge

	Objective 1.3 - To have a highly qualified teacher in every classroom
		Louisiana’s nationally recognized Accountability Program allows policy-makers and educators to identify and focus resources on strengths and weaknesses in our public education system by measuring what students know and are able to do. Studies have repeatedly shown that in order to effectively use these measures to drive improvement, students must have access to highly- qualified, certified teachers. Teacher quality is the single most important link to student achievement. This need is mandated under the new federal “No Child Left Behind” legislation and is critically important given a nationwide teacher shortage that will impact Louisiana and other states around the country.
	Benchmarks to track progress toward Objective 1.3 include:
			Percentage of highly qualified teachers in the classroom (highly qualified based on BESE standards and certified teachers in the classroom)
			Percentage of teachers with major or minor in assigned field, grades 9-12 (math and science)
			The average Louisiana teacher salary (K-12 and higher education)