Linda McMahon begins ‘Returning Education to the States’ tour in Louisiana: Where does the state stand on education?

US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon has set out on a national mission she says will restore decision-making in education to the states. Framed as both a listening exercise and a showcase of local innovation, her “Returning Education to the States” Tour will span all 50 states, beginning in Louisiana, a state where pockets of progress in literacy are emerging against a backdrop of persistently low overall rankings.

Literacy Gains in the Spotlight

In Louisiana’s capital, McMahon visited Jefferson Terrace Academy, a public Pre-K–8 school, where she joined a literacy roundtable discussion with teachers and administrators. She also toured Great Hearts Harveston, a K–9 charter school, accompanied by State Superintendent Dr. Cade Brumley, Senator Bill Cassidy, and Congresswoman Julia Letlow.She praised Louisiana’s improvement in national reading scores, calling the state “a rare bright spot” and a model for how innovation and student-focused policies can deliver results.

A troubling overall education picture of Louisiana

While literacy outcomes provide reason for optimism, Louisiana’s broader education performance remains one of the weakest in the country. According to the latest Education Week rankings, the state earned a D+, joining seven others below a “C.” Only New Mexico and Nevada received lower grades.This position is not new. Louisiana has spent decades in the bottom tier despite a long list of reform efforts, including governor-led initiatives on teacher evaluation, expanded charter school access, and the adoption of alternative accountability models.

Yet, these policies have done little to move the state’s standing in national comparisons.

The challenges behind the numbers

Critics say that past reforms too often targeted teachers as the root cause of underperformance, rather than addressing systemic issues such as funding, resource allocation, and economic disparities. Many argue that the diversion of resources toward private and charter schools has left public schools struggling, while constant changes to testing and evaluation systems have created instability.Louisiana also faces entrenched socioeconomic hurdles—nearly a quarter of high school students do not graduate, the state ranks 49th in the percentage of college graduates, and education funding has remained largely stagnant over the past decade. These conditions compound the difficulty of delivering consistent academic progress.

Areas of Improvement and next steps

There have been recent positive developments. Investments in early childhood education are increasing, and teacher preparation now includes yearlong internships for those in traditional education programmes.

However, these reforms remain limited in scope and are slow to produce measurable results.Education experts suggest that Louisiana must look to high-performing states, which consistently pair academic achievement with strong economies, robust per-pupil spending, early learning access, and high rates of college participation. Addressing community-wide economic challenges, they say, is just as important as classroom reform.

Will the tour drive real change?

McMahon’s tour is designed to gather and share best practices from across the country, but whether it leads to a genuine shift in education governance remains to be seen. For Louisiana, the challenge is turning its literacy momentum into a comprehensive strategy that lifts performance across the board.The first stop on this national journey may have celebrated a win, but the broader test lies in whether federal attention and state innovation can converge to move Louisiana out of the nation’s bottom ranks—and keep it climbing.