School Education Funding Woes

There are 8500 more students in Louisiana public classrooms than the Department of Education anticipated and that's causing a shortfall in the state budget. The formula for this fiscal year included enough money for 681,000 students.

The Louisiana Department of Education isn't immediately divulging exactly how big a hole the Jindal Administration and state lawmakers will need to fill. But, based on per-student costs, the total could reach into the tens of millions of dollars.

A small consolation is that this is not the first time state leaders have faced such a dilemma. Budget gaps occur nearly every year because the state's public school financing formula is based on student enrollment estimates, which are taken into account before students actually show up for school.