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Students who attended on-campus classes for all of the 2020-21 school year significantly outperformed remote learners on standardized tests, the Louisiana Department of Education said Tuesday.
The department’s press release was based on scores from the spring 2021 LEAP assessments.
For grades 3-8, the percentage of students who attained the Mastery level or better on English-language arts and math tests was 15% higher for students who went to school on campus for the whole year when compared with remote learners.
Students who took part in virtual learning the whole year had 11% more Unsatisfactory schools than on-campus learners.
“The data is clear that in-person instruction is far more beneficial than virtual learning options for the majority of students,” said State Superintendent Dr. Cade Brumley. “This information should guide decisions for educators and parents moving into the new school year.
“It is absolutely critical that we keep our students in the classroom for this upcoming year while mitigating the spread of COVID-19.”
The press release came days before Louisiana schools will open and in advance of the release of scores from last year’s school accountability testing. The scores are sure to be closely examined to judge the impact of COVID mitigation measures on learning.
Gov. John Bel Edwards’ emergency proclamation in March 2020 closed Louisiana schools for the remainder of the 2019-20 year. Schools reopened in fall 2020, although later than usual, with masking and social distance rules in effect, and in many cases with remote learning options for students whose parents were concerned about crowded classrooms.
The current surge of COVID cases, driven by the highly virulent Delta variant, has pushed infection and hospitalizations to the highest levels of the pandemic in the weeks before school opens.
The current policy is to allow schools to open for on-campus learning this year while requiring students and employees to wear masks and observe other mitigation measures.
Education experts and public officials have said they’re worried not only about the impact of remote learning on academic achievement, but on the loss of counseling, health care, meals and other services schools provide on their campuses.

Louisiana’s government auditing agency cited the Department of Health for the single largest amount of waste in the watchdog’s recently released fourth-quarter report for fiscal year 2021.
The Louisiana Legislative Auditor is tasked with identifying taxpayer-funded waste, fraud and abuse across state and local government agencies. It’s required to relay findings of $150,000 or more to the legislature’s Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget, composed of bipartisan members from both the House and Senate.
According to the report ending June 30, the Department of Health failed to enroll and screen Healthy Louisiana managed care providers and dental managed care providers as required by federal regulations, auditors said. The total taxpayer-funded amount affected was $8.5 billion.
Healthy Louisiana is how most Medicaid and LaCHIP – government insurance for children – recipients receive health care services in the state.
“As a result, LDH cannot ensure the accuracy of provider information obtained from the Louisiana Medicaid managed care plans and cannot ensure compliance with enrollment requirements defined by law and the Medicaid and CHIP state plan,” the report concluded.
Auditors also found inadequate billing controls for behavioral health services, which undermined the ability to deny improper Medicaid and LaCHIP claims. A dollar amount was not attached, though the same finding was issued last year at a cost of $10.5 million.
The Department of Health has struggled to meet mandatory requirements for the Medicaid and LaCHIP state-federal partnership programs over the past few years. A legislative auditor report in April found the state health agency had made progress in certain areas but continued to lag overall.
Notably, 10% of sampled case records did not support program eligibility decisions.
“We consider these costs to be questioned costs,” auditors said.
In a response letter, Department of Health Secretary Courtney Phillips insisted the agency was in compliance with federal eligibility rules and committed to increasing caseworker training.
Phillips did not dispute the legislative auditor’s finding of noncompliance regarding managed care provider enrollment. She explained the department began working with an outside screening and verification vendor in 2019 but fired the vendor because of multiple missed deadlines.
“LDH is proceeding with an alternate approach to become fully compliant by mid-year 2021, assuming there is little impact to the timeline due to the COVID-19 crisis,” Phillips said in April.
The recent legislative auditor report maintained the Department of Health still was not in compliance.
The report also cited the Louisiana Workforce Commission for failing to properly account for Unemployment Trust Fund money and properly disburse benefits through the Unemployment Insurance Program.
“Federal revenue and amounts due from the federal government were understated by $65.2 million because LWC did not properly accrue federal unemployment insurance benefits received after fiscal year-end,” auditors said.
Auditors also determined the agency understated unemployment benefit spending and related liabilities by $46.5 million as well as $17.7 million in cash because of errors, omissions and other reporting problems.
The LWC also made $6.2 million in improper payments to 1,195 incarcerated individuals and $1 million in improper payments to 374 deceased individuals, according to auditors.
While such sums are significant, they represent a small portion of the $8.57 billion in state and federal unemployment insurance benefits paid during the pandemic-fueled fiscal year 2021.
The legislative auditor also cited Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport for noncompliance regarding joint venture agreements and “control weakness” related to billing and collections. The combined dollar amount attached was $6.2 million.
The Department of Public Safety and Corrections was cited for spending $1.6 million in COVID-19 emergency funding on items outside the scope of allowed expenses.
In a response letter, Department Secretary James LeBlanc said the department had followed guidance provided by the Louisiana Division of Administration, the state’s financial management arm.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee advanced a measure by U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and others to protect pregnant workers from workplace discrimination.
The bipartisan Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which is closely modeled after the Americans with Disabilities Act, would require employers to make reasonable accommodations to allow pregnant workers to continue working safely. It will ensure that employers with 15 or more employees provide reasonable accommodations that are often low-cost or no cost, unless it would pose an undue hardship to the employer. The bill includes protections not already codified in the ADA or the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.
“The Senate is one step closer to ensuring expectant mothers have the workplace accommodations they need,” said Cassidy.
“For more than 9 years, my colleagues and I have been working to make these protections a reality for the workers who need them. This markup brings the bill one step closer to becoming law. Worker health and safety is non-negotiable and we need to make it a priority for everyone.”
“No expectant mother should ever face barriers that prevent her from fully participating in the workplace and providing for herself and her family,” said Senator Shaheen.”I’m very pleased this bipartisan bill, which would help prevent pregnancy discrimination and ensure expectant mothers can access reasonable workplace accommodations, cleared a key committee hurdle today. I’ve championed this bill for years, and I urge lawmakers across the aisle to support this important legislation to protect pregnant women.”

Happy birthday Danny Ray Robinson Jr. from family, friends and Ira.