Want to Cut the Gun Violence? Make Louisiana’s Schools Better

Louisiana's Superintendent of Education, Dr. Cade Brumley, talks about the necessity of improving literacy, especially among younger students, across the state.

"Some things we do are futuristic. And some things we do are back to the basics," says Brumley, who took over the state's top education post less than a year ago, "We need to make sure our kids can read.. And right now across the state, we know that when kids exit third grade, only about 46% are mastering that content. That's not even half. We have work to do. We have tried over the course of the year to call attention to this and build a plan for how to address that...and we expect we'll see literacy results improve in our state."

After emphasizing that the key to that improvement is a joint effort between schools and families, he adds that that improved education is an important part in reducing crime, specifically gun violence, that has plagued the area of late.

"I think it starts very early with childhood education," he says, "I think that that's the most important thing...educationally. Right now, when we talk about kindergarten, only 40% of kids in our state come to kindergarten on day one ready to be successful. We have to invest in quality care for kids very early on

"When you talk about adolescents, mentoring is very important , trying to figure out a way to partner with organizations and groups...that can offer support to kids. The community has to step up and say, 'We want to be part of this,' and we have to work together."