Louisiana’s new Republican governor vetoes ed board’s attempt to lower high school graduation requirements

Just days after his inauguration, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry issued an executive order, vetoing an attempt to circumvent high school academic standards.

The order addresses the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (BESE) Bulletin 741, which tried to add alternative graduation pathways for high school seniors that failed the Louisiana Education Assessment Program (LEAP) exam.

“The LEAP test is aligned with the academic standards established by the Department of Education and approved by BESE,” read Landry’s order. “It is in the best interest of our State to ensure that students are adequately prepared for postsecondary education and the workforce by meeting minimum standards of proficiency in core subjects.”

Similar proposals to lower graduation standards have already met resistance from the Louisiana Legislature and State Superintendent Cade Brumley.

“My signature on every high school diploma affirms a graduate’s readiness for work or higher education,” Brumley said last October. “This policy endangers that promise and diminishes the value of Louisiana diplomas for past, present, and future graduates.”  

“At its core, it signals that our educational system is incapable of providing – and students are unable to attain – a minimum standard of proficiency in required subjects,” he continued. 

The LEAP exam covers English, algebra, geometry, biology and U.S. history. The scoring categories are advanced, mastery, basic, approaching basic and unsatisfactory.  

Students only have to score at the “approaching basic” level to qualify for graduation, even though they aren’t considered proficient until they reach “mastery” or “advanced.” 

As a result, the vast majority of high school students pass the LEAP test already. 

According to BESE President Holly Boffy, just 4% of test-takers fail. Students can also retake the test if they fail the first time. 

Louisiana is currently one of just eight states to have high school graduation tests, but it’s not the only one where the education establishment is trying to lower standards.  

Oregon’s state school board suspended graduation requirements altogether, and D.C.’s graduation rates rose despite plummeting test scores and huge increases in chronic absenteeism.