Louisian’s 2026 legislative session is , and lawmakers have already filed scores of education-related bills.
The proposals range from nixing certain vaccine requirements to expanding intensive tutoring to further reducing how much time students spend taking tests.
Raising teacher pay — a hot-button issue several years in a row — is also on the list, with one bill aiming to increase Louisian’s average teacher pay, which currently trails that of most neighboring states, to align with the Southern regional average.
From now until the session ends June 1, here are the education bills to watch.
Teachers
: Creates the “Parental Leave for Educators Act,” which gives full-time school employees 100% of their base pay for up to six weeks while on parental leave.
: Increases the number of personal days granted to certain teachers from two to four.
: The “Teacher Pay Modernization Act” would require school districts to raise teacher salaries each year starting in 2027 so that they match or exceed the Southern regional average by 2030.
: Increases the amount that retired educators who are reemployed by a school system can earn without a reduction of their retirement benefits.
: Requires the state education department to create a program to recruit, hire and retain mental health professionals.
Students
: Creates a screening process to detect food insecurity among public school students.
: Requires the state education department to fund the Free School Breakfast Program, which would reimburse schools up to one breakfast per student per school day.
: Puts the burden of proof on school districts in special education due process hearings to show that a student’s current or proposed program placement is appropriate.
: Creates the “Resilient Youth and Trauma-Informed Schools Grant Pilot Program” to provide services to students at high-needs schools.
: The “Restoring Biological Truth Act” defines “sex” as an individual’s biological sex clinically certified at birth and changes all references from “gender” to “sex” in present law, including those related to school data collection.
: Expands eligibility for high-dosage tutoring from grades K-5 to grades K-8 and adds “failure to achieve mastery” on state math and English tests as criteria for a student to be given extra academic support.
h Governor, Jeff Landry, addresses joint members of the legislature on the opening day of the 2026 regular legislative session at the h State Capitol Monday March 9th 2026 in Baton Rouge, La. John Ballance pool photo.
STAFF PHOTO BY JOHN BALLANCE
Parents
: Proposes revising the state constitution to say that parents have a “fundamental right” to decide the nurturing, education, care, custody and control of their children that “shall not be infringed.” Voters would have to approve the amendment.
: Prohibits the administration of nonprescription medication to children without parental consent.
: Removes the requirement that parents submit evidence that their children have been immunized against meningococcal disease before they can enroll in school.
: Makes it a crime to steal or misuse funds from the LA GATOR Scholarship Program, which gives families public dollars to pay for private school tuition or homeschool expenses.
: Allows students, with parental permission, to leave campus during the school day to attend a class taught by a church or other religious group.
Testing and curriculum
: Changes current law to allow students who earn the required number of course credits for graduation to receive their high school diploma, regardless of their score on any state tests.
: Establishes the h Commission on Civic Education to educate students and community members on the importance of citizen involvement in a representative democracy.
: Expands eligibility criteria for a TOPS-Tech award to include the attainment of early college credit in high school through the completion of dual enrollment courses or other approved skills and learning measures.
: Removes the successful completion of a computer science course as a requirement to qualify for a TOPS scholarship.
: Expands an existing state law that limits the time students spend taking tests to 2% of all instructional minutes. Benchmark tests that students take throughout the year would be added to the law.
: The “Charlie Kirk Sequencing Act” requires schools to teach students the “success sequence,” which it defines as obtaining a high school diploma, entering the workforce or college, then marrying and having children.
Discipline
: Increases penalties relative to the unlawful dissemination or sale of images of another person created by artificial intelligence.
: Expands the definition of battery against a teacher to include “a battery that was committed because of the victim’s status as a school teacher.”
: Increases sentencing penalties for individuals who post or call in threats to schools.
: Prohibits the assignment of pre-k or kindergarten students to an alternative school unless suspended or expelled for certain infractions, including those related to drugs, weapons, assault or battery.
Higher education
: Prohibits the use of public funds for “low-earning outcome” postsecondary degree programs.
: Authorizes people who were convicted of certain crimes to be initially eligible for the M.J. Foster Promise Program.
: Abolishes the Board of Regents.
: Raises the minimum age requirement for students to be eligible for the M.J. Foster Promise Program to 21.
: Expands penalties for hazing, including suspending, expelling or deactivating any organizations found to have participated in hazing. Organizations found to be responsible for the death of a person will be given a minimum 25-year suspension or will be permanently deactivated.
: Requires the Board of Regents to establish a statewide application process for dual enrollment programs, which let high school students take college-level courses.
: Establishes the Workforce Instructor Capacity Investment Program in the h Community and Technical College System to expand instructional capacity in high-wage, high-demand workforce programs.
School boards
: Re-creates the Department of Education, which under current state will sunset on July 1, 2026.
: Allows school boards to enter agreements with local organizations to operate “microcenter” programs, defined as small, one-classroom child care centers.
: Provides that any h school board-owned vehicles be exempt from paying tolls on any bridges and highways in the state.
: Prohibits four-day school weeks, except in A-rated districts or those that already had four-day weeks as of December 2025.
: Expresses support for the Trump Administration’s efforts to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education.