By MELISSA PEACOCK

RESERVE – With low test scores and low accountability scores, St. John the Baptist Parish school officials admit they still have a lot to learn.

School Board President Gerald Keller believes the answers to problems plaguing local schools may be found in the advice of other educators.

This year, Keller was invited to attend the Oxford Round Table discussion in Oxford, England. The five-day conference, scheduled for early August, brings together educators and policy makers from the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe.

“Certainly, if I am not elected, I am still going to represent St. John Parish,” Keller said. “It is an honor to be selected.

“It is an honor not only to represent the school district, but also Louisiana and the United States.”

The first Oxford Round Table conference met in August of 1989. Since then, educators have met yearly to study education systems and to develop ideas for improving education worldwide.

Only about 40 people were invited to attend this year’s conference. Most of those individuals, Keller said, are superintendents, school board members and other school administrators.

“The thing about going to various conferences is to see what is new,” Keller said. “We are going to talk about what is working out in schools – not just in the United States, but also around the world.”

The results of the discussions will be compiled into a study and published as a source of information for other leaders in education. Keller described the event as an opportunity to help “draw up guidelines on global education.”

Keller has asked for $5,000 from the school system for lodging and other fees while attending the conference, but he told L’Observateur he is not sure whether or not he will use those funds.

“I have not decided if I will use funding from the school system, if I will pay part or if I will pay it myself,” Keller said.

Critics of the overseas trip charge the expense is too great for a public school system besieged with problems.

Addressing critics, Keller said, “It is not a playtime. We will be discussing global education.”