BOSSIER CITY, La. — State education Superintendent Cade Brumley visited Bossier City on Monday as part of his statewide "Back to School: Top of Mind Tour," meeting with superintendents from across northwest Louisiana ahead of the start of the new school year.
The closed-door meeting was one of seven regional stops Brumley is making across Louisiana this week to discuss academic priorities, student achievement and resources available through the Louisiana Department of Education.
Before the meeting, Brumley spoke with reporters about attendance, teacher pay, school accountability and the state's recent academic gains.
Brumley said improving student attendance requires a communitywide effort involving schools, families, faith-based organizations and the justice system.
"Certainly it starts with the school and the family working together," Brumley said. "We've spent considerable time over the last year working with school systems to improve attendance rates throughout the state, and they are improving."
He encouraged parents to stay engaged by communicating with teachers, attending school events and maintaining strong relationships with their children's schools.
Brumley also addressed concerns from local school districts about sustaining teacher pay raises, saying competitive salaries remain one of the most important investments school systems can make.
"Teachers deserve to be paid well," he said. "School systems have to do everything within their power to make sure they're scrubbing those budgets so they can compensate their teachers fairly."
He added that compensation is only part of retaining educators, saying teachers also want classrooms with fewer distractions, less paperwork and reduced bureaucracy.
As districts prepare for Louisiana's revised "Grow. Achieve. Thrive." accountability system, Brumley said the updated framework is designed to provide parents with a clearer picture of school quality while encouraging schools to focus on reading, math and preparing students for life after graduation.
The first school performance letter grades under the new accountability formula are expected to be released this fall.
Brumley also highlighted Louisiana's recent academic progress, pointing to improvements in national rankings for literacy and math.
"We're pleased, but we're not satisfied because we know that we still have so much work to do," Brumley said. "We have to make sure every kid can read on level, do math on level and graduates ready for what's next."
Brumley said the regional meetings are intended to keep school leaders focused on shared academic goals through collaboration.
"We're trying to bring in superintendents from across the state, talk about these core academic areas where we need to push in, lean in and continue to grow," he said. "No one is making more progress than us, but we have to keep moving that forward. Through collaboration, we'll continue to do that."
The Top-of-Mind Tour is designed to help align school system leaders on priorities for the new academic year while sharing state resources and strategies to continue improving student achievement.