Louisiana achieves top reading gains while spending far less per student

The Center Square ^ | 10/1/25 | Nolan McKendry

[CFW]

Louisiana spends less per student than most of the country, yet its fourth graders are outperforming peers in nearly every other state.

New data from the Urban Institute ranks Louisiana second in the nation for reading when adjusted for race and income, despite per-pupil spending of just $13,800 – thousands of dollars less than what some states spend.

Spending data is sourced from the World Population Review.

By comparison, Vermont spends $33,000 per student but ranks 46th, and Connecticut spends $25,000 yet lands at 13th. Other small, high-spending states like Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Alaska all exceed $20,000 per student but trail far behind Louisiana in the Institute's rankings.

[snip]

The state’s turnaround is rooted in a "back-to-basics" approach. Louisiana banned “three cueing,” a practice that had students guess words from pictures, and mandated phonics-based reading instruction. Every K–3 teacher and principal has completed 50 hours of training in the science of reading, while colleges of education overhauled teacher preparation

[CFW]

Every state that has returned to phonics is seeing large gains in the reading skills of their students.

The "three cueing" is about the most stupid way to learn reading that I could think of but most every state switched to that method several years ago. Their big mistake? They listened to the "experts".

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Can't be!

The decline in reading is because kids now days are dumb. It is NEVER the teachers or the system. They are perfection it's self.

Give them even more money.

[dfwgator]

I thought it was The Evelyn Woodhead Sped Reedin Kors.

[traderrob6]

“...upending long-held assumptions that higher funding guarantees stronger academic outcomes.”

Yet another progressive leftist Gospel tenet proven to be nonsense.

[Spok]

Rush pointed out that every time spending on schools went up, standard test scores went down.

[tcox4575]

Do the people in Connecticut care that kids in Louisiana are outperforming their kids? Probably not. They trust that their pedigree and connections will keep helping them rise to the top, and the kids from Louisiana will just make more capable employees.