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T h u r s d ay, M ay 14, 2026
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Council approves sweeping raises
$8M plan will give increases to city-parish workers BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER Staff writer
City-parish workers in Baton Rouge will soon receive their first pay raises in years, after the East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council approved widespread salary increases Wednesday. Brought by Mayor-President Sid Edwards and supported by the council’s Democrats, the $8 million annual plan will give employ-
ees varying pay-scale increases. Ten council members voted to approve the measure, while Dwight Hudson voted against it. “I have a lot of emotions right now,” Edwards said. “A lot of it is that our council, the 10-1 vote, they did it together, they did it bipartisan.” Edwards’ chief operations officer, Christel Slaughter, said the Mayor’s Office is proposing to freeze 100 positions to support
Department of Public Works employee Byron Davis, standing, and others celebrate the Metro Council’s vote on Wednesday.
the raises, along with other restructuring. She expects this to free up $4.6 million which would cover much of the general fund’s portion of associated costs. The raises will amount to an average monthly pay increase of about $241 for employees. Dozens of city-parish employees and a handful of members of
STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS
ä See RAISES, page 4A
Study finds La. leads most of U.S. in reading, math growth
2026 LEGISLATURE
Pre-pandemic learning levels surpassed BY ELYSE CARMOSINO and PATRICK WALL Staff writers
STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS
Sen. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, from left, and Sen. Gerald Boudreaux, D-Lafayette, speak Tuesday to committee Chair Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, R-Port Allen, during a Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee meeting.
Senate OKs congressional map with one minority district Cleo Fields’ House seat targeted for elimination
BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer
Republicans who control the Louisiana Legislature are moving forward with erasing one of the state’s two Black-majority congressional districts, after a Senate committee approved a plan to do so early Wednesday morning after an all-night hearing. The bill would essentially return Louisiana to the congressional map it
ä In House vote, Louisiana poised
to temporarily move back to open primaries. PAGE 4A
had in 2022 that produced five safe Republican seats and one New Orleansanchored Democrat seat, won that year by U.S. Rep. Troy Carter. The Senate voted 27-10 on partisan lines Wednesday afternoon, with Democrats opposed, to suspend its rules to be able to take up the measure, Senate Bill 121, on Thursday. After battling throughout the night, Democrats plan to continue raising objections to SB121, with Sen. Sam
Jenkins of Shreveport saying, “it is ripe for legal challenges.” Rep. Edmond Jordan, Dä See Baton Rouge, who chairs proposed the Legislative Black Caudistricts. cus, promised a lawsuit calling for the creation PAGE 5A of two winnable seats for Democrats. In the meantime, Jenkins conceded, “The (Republican) majority is full speed ahead with this map. I doubt that any attempt to amend it will succeed. We may be stuck with what we have.” Webster Webster
Morehouse M orehouse West West East Carroll East Carroll Carroll Carroll
Union Union
Claiborne Claiborne
Bossier Bossier
Lincoln Lincoln
Caddo Caddo
Ouachita Ouachita
Bienville Bienville
DeSoto DeSoto
Red Red River R iver
Caldwell Caldwell
Madison Madison
Proposed Louisiana congressional district map 1
Franklin Franklin
2
Tensas Tensas
3
Catahoula Catahoula
Grant Grant
Beauregard Beauregard
Allen Allen
Calcasieu Calcasieu
JJefferson efferson Davis Davis
4
LaSalle LaSalle
Rapides Rapides
Vernon Vernon
Cameron Cameron
Richland Richland
Jackson Jackson
Winn Winn
Natchitoches Natchitoches
Sabine Sabine
5
Concordia Concordia
Avoyelles Avoyelles
W. Feliciana W. Feliciana E. Feliciana E. Feliciana
6
Tangipahoa Tangipahoa
St. S t. Helena Helena
Evangeline Evangeline
Washington Washington
Pointe Pointe St. LLandry St. andr y Coupee Coupee EBR EBR Livingston Livingston WBR WBR Acadia A cadia St. John St. John Iber ville Iberville Lafayette St. Lafayette Ascension A scension St . M Martin artin Vermilion Vermilion
Iberia Iberia
St. James St. James Assumption A ssumption
St. Mary St. Mar y
St. Tammany St. Tammany
Orleans Orleans
Jefferson Jefferson
St . St. Charles C harles
Lafourche Lafourche
St. Bernard St. Bernard
Plaquemines Plaquemines
Terrebonne Terrebonne
ä See MAP, page 5A
Louisiana students are outpacing their peers in most states in reading and math growth, even as much of the country struggles to recover from a “learning recession,” according to a new report. Louisiana ranked first among states in reading growth and second in math progress from 2022 to 2025, according to the latest “Education Scorecard,” which analyzed test scores from nearly 40 states. The District of Columbia came out ahead when included in the rankings. Louisiana also was the only state to surpass pre-pandemic learning levels in both subjects — a distinction it also achieved on the last scorecard. Still, the progress was uneven, with some school districts yet to get most students’ scores back to pre-2020 levels. “We’re pleased but not Brumley satisfied,” state Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley said in an interview. “We have to maintain that momentum.” To get the results, researchers at Harvard, Stanford and Dartmouth analyzed test scores for students in grades 3-8 in over 5,800 school districts across 38 states. They found that students in most states made little progress in reading over the past three years, continuing a national slowdown in learning that began more than a decade ago and was worsened by the pandemic’s school disruptions. Students nationally are still about half a grade level behind pre-pandemic reading scores, and doing only slightly better in math.
ä See STUDENTS, page 7A
BREC announces finalist for superintendent post BY CLAIRE GRUNEWALD Staff writer
The East Baton Rouge Parish Recreation and Park Commission unanimously voted Wednesday to move forward with hiring Brooks Williams as the park agency’s next superintendent. The commission picked Williams from three finalists to begin negotiations with for the position, according to the Baton Rouge parks agency. Williams is currently the city manager and
WEATHER HIGH 86 LOW 63 PAGE 6B
CEO for the city of Ferris, Texas. He also has a doctorate in public administration. “Williams brings a strong operational mindset and a proven track record of improving organizational effectiveness,” said Mike Williams Polito, chair of the commission. “We believe Williams is exceptionally well-positioned to lead BREC forward and continue building a strong future for our organization and the community.”
The national search for a new BREC superintendent follows former superintendent Corey Wilson’s March 2025 announcement that he would not seek a contract renewal. Janet Simmons has served as interim superintendent since June 2025. The agency will have undergone multiple staffing-related shake-ups this year. Along with superintendent changes, the parks system laid off an estimated 90 to 100 employees in 2026 as the organization undergoes
ä See BREC, page 4A
STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS
Gov. Jeff Landry is joined Wednesday by Park Elementary students during a presentation about the state’s progress in education.
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