Louisiana
Louisiana education leaders push back on proposal to base school funding on attendance
Several members of a new study group to examine Louisiana’s high rates of student absenteeism pushed back this week against proposals to tie school district funding to attendance, warning that doing so could backfire without addressing the root causes of why students miss school.
Louisiana’s absenteeism rate rose between 2022 and 2024 before dropping slightly last year. Members of the state’s new Truancy Study Group suggested brainstorming ways for school systems and local agencies to better communicate with families and one other to figure out what’s driving absenteeism. Those reasons can vary widely, they said.
Made up of nearly two dozen education professionals, including principals, superintendents, district attorneys and school counselors, the study group’s creation came at the behest of the Legislature. State Rep. Barbara Freiberg, R-Baton Rouge, proposed a bill in the spring that would have tied attendance data to school funding through the Minimum Foundation Program, which is Louisiana’s formula that determines the cost of educating public school students.
Freiberg ultimately pulled the bill, saying the issue needed to be studied, and the Legislature instead passed a resolution to create the Truancy Study Group. But she said at the time that she wanted to ensure districts became “more involved in making sure students are there daily.”
The committee will meet periodically in Baton Rouge until February 2026, which is the deadline for them to submit policy recommendations to the Legislature.
“There’s a disconnect sometimes between theory and practice,” said Sharon Clark, a member of the state education board and the study group’s chair, during Wednesday’s meeting. “We want to make sure we’re coming up with solutions that work across the state.”
Pressing concerns
The number of students frequently missing school in Louisiana skyrocketed during COVID, mirroring national trends.
In many states, chronic absenteeism fell after the pandemic.
But in Louisiana, absenteeism rates continued to grow, spiking at 24.5% during the 2023 to 2024 school year before dipping to 22.5% last year.
State education leaders and lawmakers have said they’re worried those numbers could hinder the state’s recent academic progress.
To push districts to tackle the problem, Freiberg’s bill suggested allocating money based on daily attendance numbers, which schools are now mandated by the state education department to regularly collect and submit. That’s a change from the current formula, which bases funding on head counts that are taken once in February and once in October.
Those in favor of linking attendance to funding said it would incentivize districts to do more to reduce absenteeism. But opponents warned that doing so could unfairly penalize public school systems that are already financially strapped.
During Wednesday’s meeting, several study group members shared their frustration over what they said was a lack of supports for high-need students, who are often the ones most at-risk of becoming chronically absent. Many noted that basing funding on attendance would reduce districts’ ability to afford resources that could help students.
“Kids come to us in survival mode. Some don’t know where their next meal is coming from,” said Robert Wells, principal of Bonnabel High School in Baton Rouge. “If the goal is to do better and support kids to produce better outcomes, to help them leave high school and be able to go out and do whatever it is that they want to do, we can’t cut funding.”
Freiberg told committee members this week that she understood the pushback and that they needed to find alternative methods to tackle absenteeism.
“I hope you’ll come back to me with legislation that I can carry in the spring that’s not just tied to the [Minimum Foundation Program],” she told them.
Pros and cons
Beth Scioneaux, chief financial officer for the state education department, said in a presentation Wednesday that while basing funding on attendance can encourage districts to “hyper-focus” on chronically absent students to avoid losing money, it also comes with drawbacks.
Average daily attendance data doesn’t take into account students who miss school for reasons outside of their control, like prolonged illness, she said. She also noted that districts with higher numbers of economically disadvantaged students usually struggle the most with chronic absenteeism.
As a result, she said that attendance-based funding can make it even more difficult for school systems to address absenteeism’s root causes. Education experts widely say those often stem from problems outside of school.
If Louisiana were to make the switch, “there would have to be some kind of phase-in period,” Scioneaux added. “You can’t take millions and millions of dollars away and expect the same level of educational experiences to be delivered.”
To date, six states — California, Kentucky, Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas — allocate money based on average daily attendance numbers. Some of those, including Mississippi and Texas, have made recent moves to explore other formulas.
The Louisiana Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at March 2, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from March 2 drawing
02-17-18-38-62, Powerball: 20, Power Play: 2
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from March 2 drawing
3-9-9
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from March 2 drawing
4-1-1-0
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 5 numbers from March 2 drawing
0-5-2-9-5
Check Pick 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
All Louisiana Lottery retailers will redeem prizes up to $600. For prizes over $600, winners can submit winning tickets through the mail or in person at Louisiana Lottery offices. Prizes of over $5,000 must be claimed at Lottery office.
By mail, follow these instructions:
- Sign and complete the information on the back of your winning ticket, ensuring all barcodes are clearly visible (remove all scratch-off material from scratch-off tickets).
- Photocopy the front and back of the ticket (except for Powerball and Mega Millions tickets, as photocopies are not accepted for these games).
- Complete the Louisiana Lottery Prize Claim Form, including your telephone number and mailing address for prize check processing.
- Photocopy your valid driver’s license or current picture identification.
Mail all of the above in a single envelope to:
Louisiana Lottery Headquarters
555 Laurel Street
Baton Rouge, LA 70801
To submit in person, visit Louisiana Lottery headquarters:
555 Laurel Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70801, (225) 297-2000.
Hours: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes of any amount.
Check previous winning numbers and payouts at Louisiana Lottery.
When are the Louisiana Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT Tuesday and Friday.
- Pick 3, Pick 4 and Pick 5: Daily at 9:59 p.m. CT.
- Easy 5: 9:59 p.m. CT Wednesday and Saturday.
- Lotto: 9:59 p.m. CT Wednesday and Saturday.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Louisiana editor. You can send feedback using this form.
NEW ORLEANS — The Louisiana National Guard announced Monday that 120 troops will remain deployed in New Orleans through August.
The six-month extension comes after 350 Guard members deployed to New Orleans in late December, in the run-up to New Year’s and other high-profile events like the Sugar Bowl. The troops, which had mainly clustered in the city’s historic French Quarter, had been scheduled to depart in the aftermath of Mardi Gras.
New Orleans is one of several Democrat-run cities, such as Washington and Memphis, Tennessee, where the federal government deployed armed troops under the administration of President Donald Trump. Hundreds of federal agents also converged on Louisiana in December as part of a separate immigration crackdown in and around New Orleans.
During his State of the Union address last week, Trump touted the deployment in New Orleans as a “big success.” In January, Trump credited the troops with reducing the city’s violent crime within a week of their deployment. City police data shows violent crime rates have significantly declined over the past three years in parallel with national trends.
According to a press statement from the Louisiana National Guard, the remaining guard members will serve as a “visible presence to deter criminal activity in New Orleans.”
New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno, a Democrat who initially opposed the deployment, said that the troops would benefit the city in the coming weeks. She pointed out that National Guard troops had assisted the city during last year’s Mardi Gras in the aftermath of a vehicle-ramming attack in the French Quarter that killed 14 people on New Year’s Day.
“I continue to support the partnership with the LA National Guard to assist in our major events and there are several coming up in the next few weeks,” Moreno said in a statement.
While Moreno did not address which events she referred to, visitors flock to New Orleans in the spring for events like the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican and staunch Trump ally, requested the deployment of the National Guard last September, citing rising violent crime rates in New Orleans despite the data showing crime was down.
“This continued deployment will help us combat violence in New Orleans and other parts of Louisiana,” Landry wrote on the social platform X on Monday, noting Louisiana had also sent National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., last year.
Kate Kelly, a spokesperson for Landry, said the federal government would cover the cost of the extended deployment. She did not respond to a question about whether Guard members would be deployed outside New Orleans.
Maj. Gen. Thomas Friloux, adjutant general of the Louisiana National Guard, said in a statement the troops had already worked closely with other city, state and federal agencies to improve public safety during a stretch of high-profile events in the city, including the flood of visitors over Mardi Gras and the city’s carnival season.
“We remain committed to those partnerships as we continue supporting efforts to keep the City of New Orleans safe for residents and visitors,” Friloux said.
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Jury selection begins Monday in what prosecutors describe as one of the largest auto insurance fraud cases in Louisiana history, with two local attorneys set to stand trial on charges that include fraud and obstruction of justice.
Attorneys Vanessa Motta and Jason Giles are accused in an alleged scheme in which drivers — referred to as “slammers” — were paid to intentionally crash into 18-wheelers, file injury lawsuits and allow attorneys to collect the settlements. Both have pleaded not guilty.
63 people have been charged in the case. Many have already pleaded guilty. Motta and Giles are being tried together.
Criminal defense attorney Craig Mordock, who is not directly involved in the case but has been following it closely, said the scope of the litigation is significant.
“You have 10 years of personal injury cases and almost… almost a billion dollars in recovery. That’s all at issue,” Mordock said. “So yeah, this could go two to three weeks.”
Motta’s defense team has advanced a narrative that she was manipulated by a co-defendant.
“There is a compelling narrative that’s been advanced by Vanessa Motta’s lawyer in terms of her being manipulated by one of the co-defendants… about being manipulated by him and him having a prior federal conviction for fraud,” Mordock said.
Motta’s team originally claimed she did not know the crashes were staged. In 2024, her team told FOX 8 she is the victim.
Mordock said Giles faces a more difficult defense.
“I don’t see a favorable juror for one of the other lawyer defendants, Jason Giles. There’s not a clear theory of innocence. This is basically a standard white-collar prosecution where knowledge and intent are going to be the issue,” Mordock said.
The case carries what Mordock described as a shadow. In September 2020, key witness Cornelious Garrison was killed in New Orleans four days after his name appeared in an indictment. Garrison’s admitted killer, Ryan Harris, is expected to testify.
The judge in the case is also allowing the slain witness’s recorded descriptions of the alleged scheme to be admitted at trial.
Mordock said Louisiana drivers have a direct stake in the outcome.
“As your average Louisianan, the idea would be you would save… because the people committing this fraud have been wrapped up. The insurance companies are going to know how to look for this,” Mordock said.
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