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Across its first three years, more than 10,500 people in Louisiana have received aid through the state-financed M.J. Foster Promise Program to help them access workforce education and training aimed at getting residents into high-demand, high-wage jobs. Â
With his latest budget proposal, Gov. Jeff Landry is restarting what appears likely to be an annual debate of whether and how to expand Louisiana’s education voucher program. Again, he’s hitting resistance.
Empty hallways and quiet classrooms are increasingly common in Louisiana’s K-12 public schools. Not only is enrollment dropping, but attendance remains below the pre-COVID-19 pandemic average, leaving officials to direct efforts toward increasing the attendance of enrolled students.
Louisiana has enrolled an average of 3,200 students over the last decade in its six public schools that train new doctors, lawyers, dentists and pharmacists.
The Louisiana House backed a nearly $43 billion state operating budget that keeps many agencies at a largely standstill level of financing, continues the stipend that public school teachers have received for the last two years and adds money for a new voucher program backed by the governor.
The release of Gov. Jeff Landry’s budget proposal to lawmakers came with a cloud of uncertainty. A combination of unanswered questions about state and federal financing sources is driving unpredictability for piecing together the spending plans for the 2025-26 fiscal year that begins July 1.
The ranks of Louisiana’s K-12 public school teachers grew for a second consecutive year. Traditional and charter public schools gained 843 teachers and set a new record of 52,808 educators during the 2023-24 school year.