Pelican State Education Coverage, Driven by Data
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Louisiana's special education graduation rate surged from 59% to 81% since 2018, nearly closing a gap that most states struggle to shrink below 30 points.
Louisiana classifies 70.1% of its public school students as economically disadvantaged, but the number measures the state's meal program accounting as much as its poverty.
East Baton Rouge Parish enrollment fell 4.3% in 2026, seven times the prior year's rate, as school closures, charter exits, and outmigration collide in Louisiana's capital.
Louisiana's white-Black graduation gap fell to 6.7 points in 2025, its narrowest on record, as Black students gained 4.8 points and outpaced white improvement.
Louisiana's graduation rate reached 85% in 2025, its highest on record, with gains across every major racial subgroup and the largest single-year jump in the dataset.
The 2025-26 school year brought Louisiana's largest non-COVID enrollment loss, with 67 of 75 parishes declining and six losing more than 500 students each.
White enrollment fell to 40.2% in Louisiana public schools, down from 47.1% in seven years. Seventy of 74 parishes lost white students.
Charter enrollment reached 12.4% of Louisiana's public school total in 2025-26, gaining 6,914 students since 2022 while traditional parishes lost 32,171.
Caddo Parish lost 5,611 students since 2019, a 14.8% decline that leads Louisiana and has triggered school closures.
East Baton Rouge Parish's chronic absenteeism peaked at 33.4% in 2024 before dropping to 30.5% in 2025, but 14 schools still have rates above 50%.
Caddo Parish recovered to near pre-COVID absenteeism by 2022, then worsened every year since, hitting an all-time high of 31.0% in 2025.
Hispanic enrollment rose 41% in seven years, adding 22,000 students even as Louisiana lost enrollment. Growth is spreading beyond Jefferson Parish.
Traditional public school enrollment in Louisiana fell from 643,986 to 578,632 since 2019, a 10.1% decline with no year of recovery and a 2026 cliff that erased 15,424 students.
LDOE releases 2025-26 enrollment data showing 578,632 traditional public school students, down 15,424, the largest non-COVID loss on record.