Expanding Education Options for All Students

LOUISIANA SCHOOL CHOICE

School Choice Options for Louisiana Students

Expanding educational choice for student and families is one of Louisiana's Education Priorities. Parents are their child’s first and foremost teachers, and are in control of their child’s education. Families should have the freedom to choose the educational setting that best meets their needs. That’s why we are committed to school choice options, from high-quality traditional public schools to public charters, non-public schools, and home-study programs. No child should be limited by their zip code.

School Choice

LA GATOR Scholarship Program Charter Schools BESE-Approved Nonpublic Schools Nonpublic Schools Not Seeking State Approval BESE-Approved Home Study Program Louisiana Scholarship Program School Choice Program for Certain Students with Exceptionalities Tuition Donation Credit Program

School Choice in Louisiana

These are some of the options families in Louisiana have when choosing the best education environment for their child. Click on the links at the top of this page to learn more and access resources for families, educators, and system leaders.

Traditional Public Schools

Public schools serve local communities and are open to all students. They follow state-approved curriculum standards and are funded by taxpayer dollars to ensure a well-rounded, accessible education.

Charter Schools

Charter schools offer innovative approaches to education and greater flexibility in curriculum and teaching methods. They’re publicly funded and open to all students, with accountability to state standards and school performance.

Nonpublic Schools

Approved nonpublic schools offer families a private school option that meets specific state requirements. They may provide unique curricula, faith-based programs, or specialized instruction to fit family preferences.

Nonpublic Schools Not Seeking State Approval

These private schools operate independently without state oversight. They offer more freedom in curriculum design, though they aren’t required to meet state standards or performance reporting.

Home Study

The home study option allows families to develop a personalized education experience at home. It’s a flexible, parent-led program with state registration available to meet certain criteria and access select state resources.

'Accelerate' tutoring can be offered virtually, in-person, during or outside school hours

BATON ROUGE, La. -- The Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) is taking an active role to support school systems as they meet the academic needs of students. Accelerate is a new initiative to provide high-quality tutoring lessons in ELA and math to school systems across the state. School systems can offer this additional support to students virtually, in-person, during school or outside of the school day. The LDOE is allocating $1 million in seed money to begin the initiative.

The LDOE believes all students, including students with disabilities, English learners, and students who persistently struggle, can achieve grade-level standards. Accelerate is focused on identifying, celebrating and building upon the assets students bring to the learning experience.

To effectively address and prevent unfinished learning, students must be provided with extra time to learn through equal-access tutoring. Accelerate is designed to support school systems implementing tutoring to achieve significant results for all students.

“Unfinished learning is nothing new to educators, but the pandemic has exacerbated the need to provide our children with extra help,” said State Superintendent of Education Dr. Cade Brumley. “Accelerate provides equal-access to effective tutoring that builds on the high-quality instruction taking place in our classrooms.”

This program is designed to provide systems with the structures and teachers with resources that will accelerate students’ learning in connection with what’s taught during the normal school day. Participating school systems will have access to tutoring lessons aligned to high-quality curriculum. School systems can then offer these supplemental lessons to students who need additional support. A special Accelerate web page will house guidance documents, presentations and webinar recordings.

Teacher Leader Advisors from across the state are developing these tutoring lessons for ELA and math. The lessons will eventually expand to serve grades Pre-K-12. The first set of lessons are for students in grades K-8 and will be released this spring. The spring initiative includes 24 lessons designed to be delivered using best practices in tutoring.

Systems may use general funds, federal funds or CARES dollars to support the endeavor. In December 2020, the Louisiana legislature allocated $8 million to the LDOE for distance learning devices. The Department purchased over 23,000 Chromebooks for school systems across the state. Those devices can help support the implementation of the Accelerate initiative for participating systems.

In education terms, an acceleration approach addresses unfinished learning in an equitable way. Acceleration means connecting unfinished learning in the context of new learning, integrating new information and the needed prior knowledge. Accelerate resources provide teachers with guidance to offer just-in-time core support to struggling students in ELA and math in grades pre-K-12.

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