Parents who are curious on how their tax dollars are spent on public education can visit the School Transparency Project Portal at the State Treasury’s website. Sean Richardson has more.
Cut 1 (29) “…I’m Sean Richardson.”
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Now that Amendment 2 has failed at the ballot box, the question now becomes, what will become of teacher salaries? Jeff Palermo reports.
Cut 2 (32) “…I’m Jeff Palermo.”
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With the clock tik-tok’ing for Tik Tok, the race is on to finalize a sale. Andrew Greenstein reports.
Cut 3 (34) “…I’m Andrew Greenstein.”
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Parents can now see how taxpayer dollars are being spent on public education. Along with State Treasurer John Fleming, Baton Rouge Senator Rick Edmonds unveiled the Louisiana K-12 School Transparency Project Portal, a website providing financial data on public and charter schools.
Cut 4 (09) “…public charter schools.”
The portal is hosted on the State Treasury’s website, the portal includes budgets, expenditures, contracts, and salaries, with continuous updates and quarterly reports from schools. The project was mandated by Act 370 from the 2023 legislation, authored by Edmonds, who emphasized its role in promoting transparency.
Cut 5 (09) “…kids to be educated.”
Edmonds noted that the site helps parents compare schools’ financial integrity, supporting school choice.
Cut 6 (07) “…those tax dollars.”
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With the defeat of Amendment 2 at the ballot box, the question now becomes – what will become of teacher pay? The amendment would have converted stipends of two-thousand dollars for teachers and one-thousand dollars for support staff into permanent pay increases. It will take 200-million dollars to keep salaries at their current level. House Appropriations Chairman Jack McFarland says the big challenge for lawmakers is finding that money amid a budget shortfall.
Cut 7 (09) “…could come from.”
McFarland says the legislature will take another stab at giving teachers and other school staff permanent pay raises, but it will likely not be in the form of a bill as ambitious as Amendment 2.
Cut 8 (14) “…opportunity to pass.”
McFarland says whatever the legislature decides to do, they have to do a better job in getting the message out to the public and fight misinformation.
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The Louisiana Department of Education recently conducted a study showing that fewer high school students are involved in internships and apprenticeships than in neighboring states. State Superintendent of Education Dr. Cade Brumley emphasizes the importance of high school internships, noting that Louisiana falls behind other southern states in offering these opportunities.
Cut 10 (11) “…seeing those numbers uptick.”
Brumley advocates for incorporating internships into the state’s accountability system to better equip students for the workforce. Brumley underscores the need for collaboration between businesses, schools, and policymakers to strengthen career education and expand work-based learning programs.
Cut 11 (10) “…before they get here”
By integrating internships into the educational framework, Brumley aims to bridge the gap between classroom learning and real-world job experience, ensuring students graduate with practical skills that align with industry needs.
Cut 12 (06) “…workforce ready.”
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The clock is tik-tok’ing for TikTok. Barring a sale, the app will go dark for U.S. users on Saturday. The app got a reprieve in January when President Trump took office, but that’s now set to expire. There are currently two offers on the table – one from a group led by Amazon and one from AppLovin, an app owned by Steve Winn. Tech analyst Haggai Davis says the Trump administration is helping facilitate a sale.
Cut 13 (11) “…to finalize everything.”
Davis says China is showing signs that it’s willing to cooperate.
Cut 14 (10) “…tariff questions involved.”
Davis says the big wild card in these negotiations is TikTok’s current parent company, ByteDance.
Cut 15 (14) “…the ultimate decision.”
Under the law that mandates the shutting down of TikTok in the U.S. without a sale, ByteDance would be allowed to retain up to 20-percent ownership.
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The seventh ranked LSU baseball team begins a three-game series against 10th ranked Oklahoma tonight in Norman. The Tigers have the third best batting average in the country, and they have three regular starters hitting over .400, including Ethan Frey. Coach Jay Johnson says he’s glad to see Frey have a breakout season during his junior campaign
Kade Anderson is expected to start on the mound for LSU tonight. The sophomore left-hander gave up three home runs in his last start, but Johnson expects he’ll bounce back…
First pitch tonight is at 6 p.m.