public schools

Defying New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, the New Orleans City Council voted on Thursday (April 10) to dedicate $10 million to New Orleans public schools — partly fulfilling the terms of a legal settlement that Cantrell rejected.

The move seems likely to face a challenge from Mayor LaToya Cantrell, who pushed back on the proposed November agreement because she didn’t believe that the city budget could shoulder the costs, she said.

Gov. Jeff Landry tied public school teacher pay to a constitutional amendment on budget and tax policies that failed spectacularly at the polls Saturday.

The board approved the plan at its meeting Thursday. Officials warn closing the remaining $25 million gap will be more challenging.

With President Donald Trump slashing the federal education budget, Louisiana school superintendents are scrambling to determine if they will lose any of the $2.7 billion in federal K-12 funding that has supported local school districts for years.

The department tracks student achievement, manages college financial aid and sends K-12 schools money to support students with disabilities and lower-income communities, among other things.

Louisiana’s plan to make all public school classrooms in the state post the Ten Commandments next year remains on hold under a federal appeals court ruling in New Orleans.

For 15 years, the Cowen Institute at Tulane University has asked parents what they think of the city’s public schools.

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down pretty much the same law in 1980. But Louisiana’s attorney general argues the state’s law is constitutional, saying the document is historic and used to be displayed in schools.

Chauvin, Louisiana has watched schools shutdown, public services relocate and people move away. Saturday's school reunion gave residents the chance to reconnect and celebrate the community's future.