The Louisiana education budget is facing possible cuts of up to $250 million for the 2025-2026 school year to make up for the state government’s budget shortfall. 

These cuts could affect preschool education, but both Republican and Democratic lawmakers are wary of taking money from preschools.  

“Unfortunately, too many students in the state of Louisiana arrive on day one not kindergarten-ready,” State Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley said.  

The budget cuts are also targeting higher education institutions.  

According to the Louisiana Board of Regents, the governmental institution in charge of higher education, the $0.45 sales tax scheduled to end in the coming financial year caused the state government to ask Regents “to develop plans for higher education to accommodate a $250 million reduction across all systems.” 

“There was a time in this country where higher education was not a means of economic and social mobility,” Gary Hoover, executive director of the Murphy Institute for Political Economy at Tulane University, said. “It was a means of confirming the higher status of males from already prosperous families.” 

“With increasing cuts, we will continue the trend of returning to those days, since access to higher education for people on the lower end of the income and wealth scale will continue to be increasingly difficult,” Hoover said.