Thanks to a pay raise voted by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education last month, Louisiana now boast the highest paid state Superintendent in the South. BESE member Chas Romer was the lone vote against the pay hike, which gives Paul Pastorek nearly 350-thousand dollars per year in salary, housing and car allowances. BESE member BESE member James Garvey supported the pay hike for Pastorek, and says the Superintendent will have to prove himself in order to earn any future raises. Pastorek's pay is now 32 percent higher that that of his predecessor, Cecil Picard. Roemer says Pastorek has yet to prove himself as state Superintendent, and he still believes this pay hike should have been made contingent on results. Pastorek's salary is higher than his counterparts in AL, AR, MS and TX. Those legislatures control those salaries--here, it's all up to BESE.