Louisiana’s education rankings have improved over the past few years, recently peaking at 40th in education on the U.S. News World and Report rankings. State Superintendent Cade Brumley wants to keep the ball rolling.

Additionally, as of 2022, Louisiana’s fourth-graders have shown the most reading growth in the nation, according to the Nations Report Card.

He made a stop in Lake Chares on Thursday to speak at the Republican Women of SWLA luncheon to discuss his goals and plans for Louisiana’s education system.

“Louisiana doesn’t have to be last in education,” he said. “In fact, if we continue to make smart decisions we can continue to move the needle in the right direction.”

“Now I don’t think we can do that being weak, and I don’t think we can do that if we continue along the same line of status quo that we’ve always followed.

We have to make bold changes, we have to be assertive and aggressive in approaches, and I think we have to be brave.”

B.R.A.V.E

For Brumley, bravery is more than an attribute. It’s an acronym – one that lays out his plans for the future of Louisiana’s education system.

He has five goals: get back to the basics, redesign the high school experience, accelerate parental rights value the teaching profession and expand educational freedom.

Louisiana led the Nation’s Report Card on reading growth, he said, thanks to the LDOE’s “The Science of Reading” initiative. This method calls for a “back to the basics” approach to reading.

“For too long, we have tried to use confusing tactics in order to teach children how to read.”

He wants to focus the same attention on math and explained at the meeting that there is a nationwide trend where math scores continuously drop as they move from fourth to eighth grade.

“I want Louisiana to be the first state to overcome that phenomenon”

This can be done by promoting a love for math in lower elementary students and nurturing “math fluency” by emphasizing math practice drills.

Brumley wants to focus on the “quality” and “value” of the high school diploma. He said meaningful high school experiences are vital to prepare students for the day after graduation.

He first wants to make sure students who are interested in attending a four-year university get proper exposure to the realities of college through advanced placement and dual enrollment classes.

“What we know to be true is that students who are engaged and make a relationship with a university while they’re in high school, they’re more likely to go to the university.”

It’s also necessary to stop “the idea that students who don’t attend college are less valuable” dead in its tracks.

“That’s a fallacy. That’s false,” he said. “Across the state of Louisiana today, there are good, high paying job … They can be a plumber. They can be an electrician. They can works on cars. They can work on air conditioners. And guess what, they’re going to make good money doing those things.”

For these two efforts to happen, teachers need to feel appreciated and heard, he said.

“Students need access to high-quality teachers. … If our teachers in the state feel more fulfilled, they feel more satisfied, then they’re more likely to stay in the profession and students will benefit from their services.”

Over the summer, LDOE released 18 recommendations dubbed Let Teachers Teach. These recommendations aim to put the power back in teachers’ hands with changes like parsing down bureaucratic hurdles and enacting stricter discipline on disruptive students.

Brumley said they are working on turning the recommendations into policy.

“Accelerate parental rights” and “expand educational freedom” go hand in hand. He wants “parents in the drivers seat” when deciding what is best for their children’s education by opening doorways for public, private, charter and homeschooling options.

The State passed legislation earlier this year creating the Education Savings Account (ESA) program, allowing parents to receive funding to pay for private school tuition, among other things, starting August 2025.

“We just need to make sure that parents have the ability to make the choice on what fits for their child.”