Louisiana
Louisiana receives largest federal grant in the nation to improve student literacy
![Louisiana receives largest federal grant in the nation to improve student literacy Louisiana receives largest federal grant in the nation to improve student literacy](https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/nola.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/f2/6f2fb8f3-d49d-53d3-9ee6-7c1ce9ce1ef9/64dfe9ece576b.image.jpg?crop=1763%2C926%2C0%2C124&resize=1200%2C630&order=crop%2Cresize)
Louisiana is poised to receive $70 million from the U.S. Department of Education to improve reading instruction at high-need schools.
It’s the largest amount any state got in a recently announced round of grants, officials said. A portion of the money will pay for mentor teachers to help their colleagues learn the latest research-based methods to teach reading to children of all ages.
“These funds will help teachers and leaders improve in their profession so they can have the greatest impact on students,” Louisiana’s Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley said in a statement.
According to the state Department of Education, schools will have to complete a competitive application process detailing how they plan to use the funding. To be approved, they must also show the state that they struggle with high teacher turnover, low graduation rates, a growing population of English learners, have a high number of third graders at risk of being held back, or are otherwise “chronically failing.”
The money will be distributed over a five-year span.
LDOE executive director of literacy Shanna Beber said the funds will primarily provide additional support for teachers, who, under a 2021 state law, must undergo a one to two-year-long training program to learn the latest methods to teach students how to read.
“Literacy is an ongoing developmental skill,” Beber said.
She added that having mentors work with teachers on current best practices will ensure “that every child becomes a literate citizen.”
This is the third such round of grants to be handed out by the federal government under its Comprehensive Literacy State Development, or CLSD, Program. Louisiana was previously awarded $100 million in 2019 and $42 million in 2020.
Jenna Chiasson, LDOE’s deputy superintendent of teaching and learning, said the state has been pinpointed each time for the strides it’s made in improving student literacy outcomes.
“We really have evidence that what we’re already doing is working for students,” she said. “We want to keep that momentum going.”
Louisiana has received praise in recent years for its students’ reading gains. In a national report released earlier this year, it was one of just three states where reading test scores were found to have rebounded to pre-pandemic levels. Researchers lauded the comeback as “remarkable.”
State Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley has also touted improvements in the number of kindergarteners and first graders reading at or above level, with state data showing that test scores for students in those grades improved by an average of about 20% over the course of last school year.
But while the state has made strides in some areas, officials largely acknowledge there’s still a long way to go.
The national report found that, while Louisiana students’ reading scores had improved on average since 2020, stark racial and economic divides remained, with Black, Hispanic and low income students making less progress than their White and affluent peers.
And according to a July report from the state Department of Education, nearly half of Louisiana’s second and third graders ended last school year reading below or significantly below grade level.
The numbers could be cause for concern for the state where, starting this school year, third grade students who score below a certain threshold on their spring exam risk being held back.
DeJunne’ Jackson, president of the Center for Literacy & Learning, a national nonprofit early-learning organization that provided schools with literacy specialists after Louisiana received CLSD money in 2020, said the grant will be lifesaving for some of the state’s reading efforts, many of which have been kept afloat using COVID-era relief funds that are set to expire this year.
When dollars from temporary programs dry up, “so do the supports. It’s like getting the rug pulled out from under you,” Jackson said. “It frustrates our educators.”
She added that tackling literacy gaps early on is crucial for keeping students on the right track.
“Literacy is the foundation for all learning,” Jackson said. “We’ve put forth so much effort to move the needle for our students. This funding means that we can continue that work.”
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Louisiana
A hurricane-damaged Louisiana skyscraper is set to be demolished Saturday
![A hurricane-damaged Louisiana skyscraper is set to be demolished Saturday A hurricane-damaged Louisiana skyscraper is set to be demolished Saturday](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/09/07/05/Building_Implosion_Louisiana_91973.jpg?quality=75&width=1200&auto=webp)
An abandoned, 22-story building in Lake Charles, Louisiana — once an icon in the city that became a symbol of destruction from hurricanes Laura and Delta — is scheduled to be demolished Saturday after sitting vacant for nearly four years.
Weather permitting, the implosion of The Hertz Tower will take place around 8 a.m. (CT). The tower is expected to collapse down to four or six stories, according to the city’s website.
The building, formerly known as the Capital One Tower, has been a dominant feature of the city’s skyline for more than four decades. However, after a series of hurricanes ripped through southwest Louisiana in 2020, the building became an eyesore, its windows shattered and covered in shredded tarps.
For years the owners of the building, the Los Angeles-based real estate firm Hertz Investment Group, promised to repair the structure once they settled with their insurance provider Zurich in court, The Advocate reported. The estimated cost of bringing the building back up to code was $167 million. Eventually, the two parties settled for an undisclosed amount.
The demolition is being funded by $7 million in private money secured by the city. Hertz still owns the property and the future of the site is undetermined, according to the city.
Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter described the planned implosion of the building as “bittersweet.”
“I know how hard the city tried to work with several development groups to see it saved, but ultimately … it proved to be too tall a task,” said Hunter, who was in office during the hurricanes. “At this juncture, I am ready for a resolution. It’s been four years. It’s been long enough.”
Lake Charles, which sits on the banks of the Calcasieu River and is a two hours’ drive from Houston, is home to around 80,000 residents. While the city is known for its copious amounts of festivals, bayous, casinos and its Cajun flair, it also has been labeled by the Weather Channel as America’s “most-weather battered city.”
Hurricane Delta crashed ashore in southern Louisiana in October 2020 just six weeks after Laura took a similar, destructive path onto the U.S. Gulf Coast. At the time, Lake Charles was already reeling from damage caused by Laura, which battered roofs, claimed more than 25 lives in the region and left mud and debris filling streets.
The Hertz tower offers an example of the city’s long road to recovery following back-to-back hurricanes that inflicted an estimated $22 billion in damage, according to the National Hurricane Center.
While there are signs of rebuilding and growth in much of Lake Charles, there are still buildings that remain in disarray and residents living in the same conditions as four years ago — waiting for financial relief to rebuild their homes, looking for affordable housing after the hurricanes’ destruction exacerbated the housing crisis or stuck in court with their insurance provider to get a fair payout.
Louisiana
More seniors turning to reverse mortgages amid Louisiana’s insurance crisis
![More seniors turning to reverse mortgages amid Louisiana’s insurance crisis More seniors turning to reverse mortgages amid Louisiana’s insurance crisis](https://gray-wvue-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/YYBHZBLGSJAMDEKBJEZRX6PX7Y.jpg?auth=60519cbc97bbb78f9766e7f2f9d793fb51e9faf825001ef6203cc36837a4c204&width=1200&height=600&smart=true)
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – With property insurance costs in Louisiana spiraling out of control, seniors are increasingly turning to reverse mortgages for financial relief.
Alison Calamaia at America’s Mortgage Resource says she’s been getting more calls from homeowners asking about reverse mortgages.
“A lot of my calls start with clients asking about whether or not they should get a reverse mortgage,” said Calamia. “My next question is why are you calling? What has occurred that made you make this phone call? Currently, they say my insurance just went through the roof.”
A majority of Calamia’s clients are in their golden years and on fixed incomes. She says the soaring cost of homeowners insurance creates a financial burden many of them can’t afford because they never anticipated the price of insurance premiums to climb so high.
“I currently have a woman right now, her insurance went from $3,000 to $14,000. She can’t afford to pay that any longer,” she said. “She does have a mortgage on her property, and she might lose her house if she can’t make that mortgage payment.”
Even those without mortgages, like Cheron Brylski of Uptown New Orleans, are feeling the pressure. Brylski put her home up for sale earlier this summer, citing property insurance and taxes as key reasons for her decision.
“It’s basically making living in a house that I own, and I own outright, impossible for me to stay here,” Brylski told us in June.
Calamia said the fear of losing one’s “forever” home is becoming more common among her clients.
“Most of the time it’s the house where they raised their children. And we live in the South. We don’t want to leave that house. We want to stay put,” she explained.
INSURANCE CRISIS
To stay put, Calamia says a growing number of people are considering reverse mortgages to create another line of money. Details of mortgages and reverse mortgages can be confusing and often filled with financial language unfamiliar to many people. That can often lead to several myths about reverse mortgages said Calamia, who tried to boil down the information for this reporter to understand.
“In a nutshell, it is a mortgage against the home that allows for a percentage of the property value to be used as a stream of monthly income, a line of credit, or a lump sum to pay existing mortgages, but it does not come with a monthly payback as long as the borrower lives in the home. They do have to pay taxes and insurance, but there’s not that principal and interest part of it. In essence, the house is going to pay for the principal that they would receive and the interest on it over time instead of physically making a traditional mortgage payment, the house is paying for it,” said Calamia.
The borrower can use the line of cash or credit generated through a reverse mortgage to pay for things like property insurance. Calamia says reverse mortgages often get a bad reputation. Much of her work involves walking clients through a process to determine if a reverse mortgage would be appropriate for their financial situation.
“One of the biggest reasons myths about reverse mortgages is I can’t get a reverse mortgage if I still owe money on my home. That’s not true. However, in a reverse mortgage the available funds, which is a percentage of the property value, there needs to be enough in the reverse mortgage to pay off that mortgage plus cover the closing costs. We don’t have any out-of-pocket cost so the cost of getting the loan is worked into the loan. People also think they won’t keep the title to their home. They do keep that title as long as they just live in it. And one day, when the mortgage is due and payable, which is usually after the borrower has sold the property or has permanently moved out of the home. When the loan becomes due and payable, any amount that was given to the borrower is paid back along with interest on it over time. There’s no end date. The date is when they no longer live there usually after death,” Calamia said.
Reverse mortgages may not be suitable for everyone. But during a time when many people are trying to find ways to cover the cost of sky-high property insurance, Calamia believes it can help seniors stay in their forever homes.
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Louisiana
Louisiana Supreme Court calls lawmakers’ use of delays ‘egregious’ but may not scrap it • Louisiana Illuminator
![Louisiana Supreme Court calls lawmakers’ use of delays ‘egregious’ but may not scrap it • Louisiana Illuminator Louisiana Supreme Court calls lawmakers’ use of delays ‘egregious’ but may not scrap it • Louisiana Illuminator](https://lailluminator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/IMG_3679-2048x1365.jpg)
NEW ORLEANS — The Louisiana Supreme Court expressed extreme displeasure with Sen. Alan Seabaugh for leveraging his role as a state lawmaker to prolong an automobile accident lawsuit for years.
But the justices didn’t appear convinced the law allowing legislators who are attorneys, like Seabaugh, to delay court proceedings should be declared unconstitutional.
The seven-person court heard oral arguments Thursday over whether Seabaugh and Rep. Michael Melerine, partners in a Shreveport law firm, violated the rights of Caddo Parish resident Theresa Fisher.
Fisher is suing for money to cover her medical expenses after an automobile accident in 2018.
Seabaugh and Melerine represent the driver who hit Fisher, Steven Harder Jr., his father Steven Harder Sr. and the father’s insurance company, Hanover Insurance Group.
Fisher’s attorneys have alleged Seabaugh and, more recently, Melerine unreasonably delayed resolution of the lawsuit, first filed in 2019, by demanding numerous extensions related to their legislative work. After five years, the case is finally expected to go to trial next month.
Seabaugh has served in the Legislature since 2011, including 12 years in the Louisiana House of Representatives. Melerine took his seat in the House in January.
Under law, state judges must postpone deadlines and court appearances for attorneys who are lawmakers if the proceedings will interfere with their legislative work.
The question before the Louisiana Supreme Court is whether those automatic extensions represent an unchecked power for lawmakers.
Legislators who are attorneys contend it would be difficult for them to continue to serve in public office if they had to worry about their law practice and clients while in their lawmaking sessions. Twenty-nine other legislators, Democrats and Republicans who are mostly attorneys, signed a brief to the Supreme Court backing Seabaugh and Melerine in the case.
“[Fisher and her lawyers] want to throw the baby out with the bath water,” said Larry Frieman, a former lawmaker and the state’s chief deputy attorney general, who defended the law in court Thursday.
‘Disappointing’ delay
The justices made it clear they were unhappy with Seabaugh and, to a lesser extent, Melerine’s conduct in the Fisher case.
Justice Jay McCallum referred to it as “disappointing” and “repugnant.” Jeannette Theriot Knoll, a former justice who has been temporarily appointed to fill the seat vacated by James Genovese, called it “egregious” and “unconscionable.”
“I don’t think you’ll find anyone that likes what’s going on here,” McCallum said.
Justice William Crain was aghast that Seabaugh had allegedly agreed to a trial court date in May 2023, a month that is the height of the regular legislative session every year. Seabaugh later backed out and asked for a legislative extension, according to Fisher’s attorneys.
“He should never agree to a trial date during the session unless he intends to show up,” Crain told Frieman.
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The justices also appeared frustrated that Seabaugh, while in the middle of this legal dispute, authored legislation that would have saddled Fisher and her attorneys with extra legal expenses for challenging him.
Senate Bill 185 would have required attorneys who fight legislative continuances to pay the court costs and legal expenses for opposing state lawmakers. It also would have prohibited lawmakers from using the extensions for cases involving protective orders, stalking, domestic violence and sexual assault.
Lawmakers passed the legislation unanimously, but the measure didn’t become law. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry vetoed the proposal over concerns that it would give lawmakers too much authority over legal extensions.
Justice Piper Griffin, a Democrat from New Orleans, agreed with Landry’s sentiment Thursday.
“Every single legislative session, there’s an attempt to make [the legislative continuance law] more draconian,” Griffin said, later adding: “It’s causing problems.”
When it comes to the Fisher lawsuit, the delays have caused so much frustration that even one of Seabaugh and Melerine’s clients in lawsuit, Steven Harder Sr., sided with Fisher’s attorneys. He is also asking the justices to limit or throw out the legislative continuance law.
Vernon Richie, a new attorney for Steven Harder Sr., said the lack of resolution to the lawsuit causes stress for his client’s family. They aren’t sure how much they will have to pay Fisher if she wins the case, and the uncertainty has put them in financial limbo for years.
“They need closure,” Richie told the justices.
Frieman, who worked closely with Seabaugh as a legislator, also tried to distance himself from his former colleague while defending statute.
“I really don’t want to talk about whether Sen. Seabaugh was right or wrong. I’m not here to defend him,” Frieman said at the hearing.
In an unusual move, Seabaugh and Melerine did not appear in person Thursday or file a brief for the justices to review ahead of time. Instead, they asked in early August to be removed from the case altogether.
Their pending withdrawal appeared to strengthen Frieman’s push to keep the law in place. He said the justices no longer had to rule on legislative continuances because the lawmakers would not be involved in the lawsuit moving forward.
In a legal brief, Fisher’s lawyers described Seabaugh’s and Melerine’s decision to drop out as cynical and a “blatant attempt to sidestep this court’s review of the statute.”
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Law limitations
Attorneys J. Cole Sartin and Joseph Gregorio, who also represent Fisher, argued the current legislative extension law is an overreach of the Legislature into judicial matters. It prohibits judges from being able to manage their docket and move trials along, Sartin said.
They did not suggest doing away with legislative continuances completely but want to see more guardrails in place. The law should be more specific about when a lawmaker who is an attorney can request a postponement, and opposing counsel should also be able to challenge continuations, Sartin said.
The statute is written broadly. Lawmaker attorneys can seek an extension from the court for any time 30 days before until 30 days after a legislative session, as well as for travel and other meetings they attend as an elected official.
One justice who served as a state lawmaker, McCallum, questioned whether the law, while sometimes abused, reached the level of being unconstitutional.
The Legislature passes other statutes that tie the hands of judges, McCallum said. For example, lawmakers have imposed mandatory life sentences in prison with no option of parole for people convicted of murder. Judges aren’t given discretion to change those punishments, he said.
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Nevertheless, McCallum said there may also be “remedies” to limit misuse. He suggested it might clear problems up if extension requests were sent to the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board, which could then monitor whether the benefit was being abused.
Limiting the number of legislative continuances that can be granted per case would be another option, Knoll said.
Wider problem
Seabaugh and Melerine aren’t the only lawmakers who have been accused of abusing this privilege.
In a legal brief supporting Fisher’s arguments, attorney Jennifer Prescott alleged she handled a civil lawsuit that took too long to resolve because the opposing attorney, Rep. Kyle Green, used 10 legislative continuances to delay proceedings over two and half years.
Democratic Rep. Edmond Jordan angered a judge last year and lost a case when he filed legislative continuances and did not appear in court.
Perhaps most seriously, Barron Bailey of Webster Parish said he has been stuck in jail for the past five years without a trial in part because his attorney, Democratic Sen. Katrina Jackson, has used legislative extensions.
“I’ve been represented by Ms. Jackson since December 2019. I feel that she has only filed one motion in my case,” Bailey told KTBS-TV last month. “They say no news is good news, but she is not representing me to the best of her ability. She works mainly through paralegals and a private investigator.”
Bailey faces second-degree murder and first-degree feticide charges in the 2019 death of Na’Toyedre Barrow, who was eight months pregnant at the time of her death. Bailey says he is innocent.
Prosecutor Hugo Holland, who works for district attorneys across the state, also blamed Jackson’s legislative extensions for the Baily’s trial delay.
“I cannot get it to trial because the defense attorney is constantly using the legislative continuance statute,” he told the television station.
Jackson did not respond to an interview request from KTBS-TV.
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