Sweeping changes are in store for Louisiana schools. Here are the biggest ones. (2024)

When Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, just six months into the job, recently signed a package of education bills, he didn’t tout it as the first step toward better schools. He called it “drastic reform.”

It was an apt description. Since taking office in January, Landry has led state Republicans on a quest to transform every aspect of the education system — from where parents can enroll their kids to how schools are rated and what’s expected of teachers and students in the classroom.

Lawmakers and state Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley had previously pushed similar policies, most notably a tougher school-rating system and more money for private education, but they were stymied by the state’s Democratic governor and his handpicked state board of education members. No more.

Now Republicans control the governor’s office, the Legislature and the board. They have moved mostly in lockstep, pursuing a conservative playbook that includes private school choice, stricter discipline policies and restrictions on LGBTQ+ students, all while promising to boost student achievement and Louisiana’s national standing.

“We're shooting for the stars,” said Kevin Berken, an outspoken conservative and one of eight new faces on the 11-member board of education.

The changes have thrilled right-leaning advocacy groups, which pushed for — and in some cases helped craft — the new policies. But educators and public school advocates have expressed alarm at the rapid-fire changes, whose impact remains to be seen.

“These are major, sweeping changes,” said Janet Pope, executive director of the Louisiana School Boards Association. “We’re not sure what to expect because we’re still building the plane while we’re flying it.”

Sending more students to private school

Republicans let loose a barrage of bills during the legislative session that ended in June.

They were making up for lost time after eight years under Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat who vetoed many of their proposals. Amid this session’s torrent of legislation, one issue stood out: education.

“We heard more bills than any committee in the Senate,” said state Sen. Rick Edmonds, the Baton Rouge Republican who chaired the education committee. “A new governor, a new vision — I think you saw a lot of activity around that.”

Perhaps no education bill was more ambitious — or contentious— than one to give parents public money to pay for private education.

The bill, which Edmonds sponsored, was a top priority for Landry. That was in part due to the powerful forces pushing for it: business associations, school-choice groups, conservative think tanks and GOP donors. A majority of Louisiana voters also endorsed the plan.

The bill puts tax dollars into “education savings accounts,” or ESAs, that parents can spend on private school tuition, tutoring, textbooks or other education expenses. It will replace the state’s existing voucher program, which gives low-income families tuition money, with the goal of eventually offering subsidies to all parents regardless of financial need.

“Every parent in this state will have an opportunity, if they want, to send their child to a school other than the public school,” Landry said in June when he signed the bill.

An unlikely coalition opposed the plan, including Democrats, some rural Republicans, traditional public schools and some charter schools. Critics said it would subsidize private education for well-off families while pulling students from public schools and funneling tax dollars into loosely regulated private schools.

“This is an abandonment of public education,” Sen. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, said before the Senate passed the bill.

Paying for thousands of students to attend private school could be hugely expensive, but the final bill deferred the cost question. The state board of education will determine how quickly to expand the program and the Legislature will decide how much money to give it.

Despite those uncertainties, the legislation still could reshape education in Louisiana, as state board member Conrad Appel noted to colleagues in an email obtained by the Advocate/Times-Picayune.

“The ESA bill may be the most drastic (though I hope positive) change to public education in decades,” he wrote, “or potentially ever.”

Overhauling how public schools are rated

Like diligent students, public schools agonize over their grades.

The state-issued letter grades are how much of the public determines whether a given school is “good” or “bad,” and how some parents decide where to raise their children. So it was no surprise that Brumley, the state’s top education official, faced fervent resistance when he sought to revamp the rating system, making it harder to earn good grades.

“This is something I’ve worked on for three years in the face of adversity and pushback,” he said earlier this month. But he was undeterred, he said, because “I just felt confident that the accountability system is a lever to drive better outcomes” for students.

After failing to push through the overhaul in 2022, Brumley won the board's approval this year.

The new rating system, which takes effect in 2026, gives schools more credit for helping students make academic gains — a way of rewarding schools that serve high-needs students who start out behind their more advantaged peers.

High schools will see the biggest shift, with far more weight now given to students’ test scores than whether they earn diplomas or demonstrate readiness for college or jobs. The upshot is that fewer schools are likely to earn As and Bs.

If Brumley is right, the overhaul will motivate schools to make improvements and accelerate student learning. But district leaders worry it will force schools to prioritize test prep over preparing students for the future.

The grading system will determine where schools “focus their scarce resources,” Stephen Zafirau, an official in the St. Charles Parish school system, told the board. “Incentives matter.”

Cracking down on classroom disruptions

Several laws stem from the fact that if students can’t concentrate, they can’t learn.

What keeps students from concentrating? When Brumley posed that question to a panel of teachers this year, he said they pointed to one main culprit.

“Without fail,” he said, “the teachers shared with me that it’s cellphones in their classrooms.”

Beginning this fall, Louisiana students will have to stow away their phones during school. The law drew support from both parties — and even some students who said they'd welcome a reprieve from checking their phones.

Another new lawempowers teachers to take disciplinary action against unruly students, including removing them from class.

The law follows a decade-long effort by schools to move away from punitive discipline policies, such as suspensions, which have been associated with higher dropout rates and adult incarceration. But Brumley, echoing many educators, said the “softer approach” to discipline has enabled misbehavior that distracts from learning.

“There are some students that are habitually disrupting the classroom,” he said. “We can't allow that to continue.”

Promoting faith, rolling back student protections

Louisiana lawmakers have long sought to weaken the wall between church and state. But this year, they blew a hole in it.

One new law allows schools to hire chaplains, while another requires public schools and colleges to post the Ten Commandments in every classroom. That mandate made national headlines and triggered a federal lawsuit.

Critics say the law tramples on students’ rights and discriminates against non-Christians. Defenders say the text is a historic document and moral code for all to follow.

“My opinion,” said Berken, the state board of education member, “the Ten Commandments was God's mandate to all mankind, not to a particular religion.”

While promoting the Ten Commandments, the Legislature also further restricted the rights of LGBTQ+ students, a minority group that Republican-led states have increasingly targeted.

One new law bans transgender people from using school bathrooms that match their gender identity. Another protects teachers who refuse to use students’ preferred names or pronouns. The state also sued to block new federal rules that protect students from discrimination based on their sexuality or gender identity.

“If you're a boy, you're a he, if you're a girl, you're a her,” Berken said. “The rest of it, in my opinion, is just nonsense.”

LGBTQ+ students are far more likely than their straight peers to face bullying and violence at school, experience poor mental health and consider suicide. Advocates say Louisiana’s new laws will only make life harder for those students.

“I just want them to be alive and survive high school,” MJ Herbert, a school social worker, said during a hearing on the bills. “These kids deserve to live.”