State superintendent tours Prien Lake Elementary, praises progress being made
Published 6:21 pm Monday, March 24, 2025
Calcasieu Superintendent Jason VanMetre watches as fourth-graders in Kate Cecchini's class complete assignments online Monday afternoon at Prien Lake Elementary. (Crystal Stevenson / American Press)
Louisiana Education Superintendent Cade Brumley and Kaci Pugh, a consultant in elementary curriculum for the Calcasieu Parish School Board, watch as fourth-graders in Kate Cecchini's class complete assignments online Monday afternoon at Prien Lake Elementary. (Crystal Stevenson / American Press)
Fifth-grade tour guides Aloia Fernandez and Illah Tallman welcome state Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley and BESE member Kevin Berken to Prien Lake Elementary on Monday. (Crystal Stevenson / American Press)
Grayson O'Quain correctly answers a sentence structure question during Amber Declouet's class at Prien Lake Elementary School. (Crystal Stevenson / American Press)
Nathalie Miller leads the third-grade French class Monday afternoon at Prien Lake Elementary. (Crystal Stevenson / American Press)
Louisiana has seen notable improvements in its education system in recent years with gains in student achievement and national rankings.
None of that is more evident than at Prien Lake Elementary, where progress in reading and math scores is climbing thanks to high-dosage tutoring and the use of the computer programs such as Lexia to accelerate student learning at every reading level and Zearn to develop math curriculum.
“There’s not another state in the country that is making more rapid improvements in education than Louisiana,” state Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley said while touring the school Monday afternoon. “We are the story across the country for the improvements we’re making and I just want to be here today to have discussions with teachers, see classrooms and find out what’s working and how we can continue to get better.”
Brumley said if the focus continues to be reading and math in elementary schools, students will be “set up for their entire K-12 experience and then life beyond high school.”
Led by fifth-graders Aloia Fernandez and Illah Tallman, Brumley joined Calcasieu Superintendent Jason VanMetre, Board of Secondary and Elementary Education member Kevin Berken and Ronnie Harvey Jr. — a former principal himself — in visiting kindergarten, third-grade and fifth-grade classrooms.
“Our results that we are making, our improvements that we are making are a testament to the teachers across the state of Louisiana,” Brumley said. “It’s also good just to visit with them, shake their hands, pat them on the back and tell them, ‘good job,’ for the work they are doing.”
Brumley said his office isn’t trying to “chase shiny things.” Instead they have narrowed the focus to teaching kids to read, do math, elevating teachers, accelerating parental rights and expanding education choices.
“We’ve really tried to narrow the scope of what a school system and a school is supposed to do and it’s paying off,” he said. “Never has Louisiana ranked higher nationally, but we still have a lot of work to do. There are still too many kids who can’t read on grade level, can’t do math on level, are in a school that’s failing them, so there’s still a lot of opportunity ahead to just keep getting better.”
Brumley said merit matters as does setting a high bar for academic excellence and helping students and teachers reach that bar.
“We can’t allow the status quo to be good enough,” he said. “We can make progress — and we are making progress – but we clearly have more work to do. We’re just honored to be among so many educators, parents and kids doing this work.”
Students in the Bayou State recently achieved their highest rankings ever on the Nation’s Report Card, moving from 49th in 2019 to 32nd in 2024.
“Who would have thought that Louisiana could be in the 30s in anything on a good list? Being No. 32 in Louisiana on the Nation’s Report Card is just outstanding,” Berken said. “It makes me feel like the sky’s the limit and that No. 1 is not too far off. The things the Department of Education is doing through the leadership of Dr. Brumley, the governor’s office, the Legislature, BESE, we’re all pulling that cart in the same direction and you can tell now that the momentum is growing.
Berken said he believes the growth in education is going to “be the catalyst for people to start moving back into Louisiana. If we get people to start moving back in, our tax base goes up and we can start paying teachers better and we can keep that snowball to get bigger and bigger.”
Brumley said he’s not worried any cuts being made at the federal level to the Department of Education will hinder that progress.
“I don’t necessarily believe the U.S. Department of Education should exist,” he said. “State leaders working with local leaders, moms and dads and teachers can make the best decision for kids in Louisiana with Louisiana interests in mind. We welcome any additional responsibilities. One thing that’s important to remember is even if the U.S. Department of Education doesn’t exist, federal laws don’t go away so we’re still going to take care of our students with disabilities, we’ll still make sure that schools are anti-criminatory in some particular way, so we welcome the opportunity to be more involved as a state making decisions without bureaucracy from D.C.”
