According to a May 20, 2026 announcement from the U.S. Department of Education (USDE), Louisiana became the second state to receive a federal waiver from certain K-12 funding requirements, allowing the state to consolidate funding streams. Louisiana’s waiver is similar to the one approved in January 2026 for Iowa. The waivers allow both states to combine four federal education funding streams into one. Proponents of the waivers say there will a reduction in state comp0liance costs.
However, EdTrust has stated that a major concern with the ESEA waiver program is that when federal funding streams dedicated to supporting certain student groups like English learners are consolidated, it makes it harder to determine whether or not those student groups are benefiting from the pool of money. It also said that the way the federal government has worked and is intended to work is to allocate resources to help states supplement the funding needed to support their most vulnerable students, their highest need communities, and students that have traditionally not gotten the requisite services that they need to be successful. It is felt that funding for those students may now be lost in the shuffle.
For more from K-12 Dive, click here.