Calcasieu Parish teachers recently took a field trip to Baton Rouge to oppose the adoption of new accountability standards for Louisiana public schools.

Louisiana school leader testifying against accountability misspells accountability #lalege #lagov #laed

The wait for relief from Louisiana’s sky-high auto insurance rates continues for hardworking families and small businesses as a result of some politicians in Swampland who continue to choose the status quo over meaningful change.

Governor Jeff Landry and the Louisiana Legislature are working to pass legislation this Session to establish Louisiana’s first fully-universal school choice program to give parents more control over their children's education-- but education swamp leaders are fighting parents, lawmakers and the governor to try and ensure it never happens.

The Minimum Foundation Program (MFP) proposal recommended by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) and now under consideration by lawmakers increases funding for the upcoming school year by $71.3 million—bringing the state’s total investment in K-12 education to over $4.3 billion.

The Louisiana House Education Committee held a rare oversight hearing today to consider a rule change championed by education swamp leaders to give graduation diplomas to high school students—even if they failed the required graduation exit exam. After nearly five hours of public testimony from outraged state leaders, parents, teachers, and policy experts, the committee voted 8-3 to overturn it.

Even though the issue has not received much local media attention, it is clear the school choice wave sweeping across America has finally reached Louisiana—and boy, has it landed in a big way!

Back in 1897, Mark Twain wrote, “In the first place, God made idiots. This was for practice. Then He made School Boards.” It seems not much has changed since Twain penned these infamous words, as public contempt for the elected bodies that oversee our government-run school systems is stronger than ever.

The Louisiana State Bond Commission approved over $3.6 billion in financing last Thursday for a long slate of capital outlay projects authorized by the Louisiana Legislature during their unprecedented spending spree in Swampland (the Baton Rouge Capitol) earlier this year. This included over $105 million in cash lines of credit and new long-term debt obligations to finance projects for a select group of well-connected non-profit groups.

It’s the dog days of summer, and many Louisianians have been focused on LSU baseball, the missing Titanic sub, and the 4th of July holiday. Here’s a rundown of key headlines that you may have missed.