Education

HB 351 repeals two specific provisions related to Louisiana's reentry preparation program for formerly incarcerated individuals. It removes a requirement (R.S. 15:827.1(E)) about reentry programs and eliminates an entrepreneurial educational curriculum component within that program. This bill directly affects inmates participating in Louisiana's reentry programs by removing these specific policy requirements from state law. The change is procedural, with no new requirements or funding added.

SB 399 creates the Louisiana Higher Education Research Security Council to protect the state's colleges and universities from foreign adversaries. The law requires institutions to report and restrict gifts, contracts, research partnerships, and academic collaborations with entities from countries or groups designated as foreign adversaries, while prohibiting certain travel and gifts from such sources. It defines key terms like "foreign adversary" and "foreign source," and includes penalties for violations, such as the theft of trade secrets. The bill directly affects all Louisiana institutions of higher education that grant degrees or have a physical presence in the state.

This resolution expresses support for federal efforts to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education and asks Congress to cooperate with those efforts. It directly affects the Louisiana Legislature by formally recording its position on a federal policy change. The bill cites the Tenth Amendment to argue that education powers should remain with states rather than the federal government. It does not create new laws or change state education policy, but rather sends a message to the federal government about Louisiana's stance on the issue.

SB 13 modifies how Louisiana's Teachers' Retirement System calculates employer contributions and handles investment returns. It changes the method for applying excess investment returns to reduce the system's debt, specifically requiring reamortization (resetting payment schedules) when the system reaches 80% funding or every five years starting in 2019. This affects the state's payments into the retirement fund and directly impacts public school teachers' retirement benefits. The bill repeals outdated calculation rules and clarifies how future contributions will be applied to the system's debt.

This bill modifies state law to exempt charter schools from a specific requirement that currently applies to public schools regarding student enrollment status. Under the existing rule, schools must identify students who are incarcerated or have unknown whereabouts to remove them from accountability calculations, but this bill adds that rule to the list of mandates that charter schools do not have to follow. The legislation directly affects charter school administrators by relieving them of the obligation to track and report these specific student populations for accountability purposes. By amending the statute, the bill clarifies that charter schools are not required to exclude incarcerated or missing students from their enrollment counts in the same way public schools must.