Louisiana State Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley
Enrollment at Louisiana public schools is down two percent. State Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley said the decline in enrollment is on par with other states.
“In fact, if you look to Texas they’re experiencing a little bit more of a decline than we are, and Mississippi as well. You know ours is further complicated I believe because we had an unusually impactful hurricane season,” said Brumley.
The two-percent decline equates to 17-thousand students and at least half of those students are pre-kindergarten and kindergarten ages. Brumley said he is worried having those students in particular out of the classroom is going to hurt literacy rates.
“We’re really concerned about that and we all have to get on the same page and see really a reading rival across our state. We need to make sure that all the partners are on board with the idea that we just have to do better,” said Brumley.
Brumley said many fail to understand the importance of pre-kindergarten and kindergarten to prepare students for elementary education, he’s worried the decline in enrollment will put them further behind.
“So much of the child’s brain is developed before they even get to kindergarten and right now in some of our communities 90-percent of kids come to school not kindergarten ready and across the state 50-percent of kids come not kindergarten ready,” said Brumley.
Brumley said he’s confident that more families will have their children return to the classroom when all systems can safely resume face-to-face instruction.
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