BATON ROUGE, LA – The East Baton Rouge teachers union is opposing the proposed St. George school district breakaway, warning that allowing residents to leave the current system could undermine decades of carefully maintained educational disappointment across the parish.
Union leaders argued that St. George residents should remain committed to fixing East Baton Rouge schools rather than attempting to create a new district many supporters believe would produce better academic outcomes, safer campuses, and stronger accountability.
The opposition comes as supporters of the breakaway continue pointing to nearby communities that experienced explosive growth over the past two decades while operating some of the highest-ranked school systems in Louisiana.
Livingston Parish, Ascension Parish, Zachary, and Central have all consistently maintained top-10 ranked school districts in the state during the same period their populations surged, a coincidence union officials insist should not be overanalyzed.
“People act like families move to areas with strong schools,” one representative said. “But there are many factors involved, including housing, jobs, traffic patterns, and whether residents enjoy repeatedly attending school board meetings asking why guns keep showing up on campuses.”
The union also warned that if St. George succeeds, taxpayers across Louisiana may begin developing unrealistic expectations that communities investing heavily in education should eventually see measurable results.
As support for the St. George school system continues to grow, EBR leaders announced plans to form a committee to uncover the real reason why families keep moving to places with highly ranked school systems, with findings expected sometime around 2047.
