A bill to expand Louisiana’s high-dosage tutoring program advanced in a Senate committee Wednesday even as a broader debate is shaping up over state funding for K-12 education. Sen. Patrick Mc-Math, R-Mandeville, proposed spending an additional $15 million a year to provide intensive tutoring to a larger group of students. The program has been focused on K-5 students who had failed assessments in reading, and McMath’s bill would also provide the tutoring to K-8 students who fail assessments in reading, English, numeracy or math. “We are simply expanding upon and improving a program that is leading the nation,” Mc-Math said.
Louisiana led the nation in learning loss recovery in reading after the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Harvard and Stanford universities’ Education Recovery Scorecard. McMath said that high-dosage tutoring, which takes place at least three times a week, was responsible for the improvement.
“It’s pretty inspirational that Louisiana is a leader in a field and not at the bottom of the list, but at the top,” McMath said.
This expansion would cost the state $15 million a year on top of the $30 million already allocated.
The Legislature started to cover the cost of the tutoring from the state general fund in 2024 afceive role in helping Louisiana reach an ambitious higher-education benchmark set by the Louisiana Board of Regents, achieving a 60% postsecondary graduation rate by 2030.
However, some lawmakers expressed concern about whether the state is on track to meet that goal.
Sen. Thomas Pressly, R-Shreveport, told the committee that improving graduation outcomes must remain a top priority.
“Our goal has to be to graduate our kids,” said Pressly.
He warned that even small declines in graduation rates can have meaningful impacts across the state.
“When you drop by a percentage, it’s not a huge number, but it certainly is affecting the lives of everyday Louisianians,” Pressly argued.
Pressly also questioned how Louisiana could realistically reach the 60% attainment target without additional changes to the state’s current higher education strategy.