By Minden Press-Herald  - May 24, 2023

BATON ROUGE, LA – Senate Majority Leader Sharon Hewitt’s SB163, known as the “Back to Basics in Math Bill”, advanced out of the House Education Committee. Hewitt’s bill will provide 4th through 8th grade math teachers with additional support in teaching mathematics by building on foundational math skills. Louisiana 4th graders currently rank 40th in the nation, according to NAEP, for math scores and 8th graders rank 44th. The bill aims to dramatically increase these rankings by going back to basic principles in teaching math. 

“It is unacceptable as a parent and grandparent that our kids rank near the bottom in math” Hewitt said. “My bill is a common sense approach that goes back to the basics of teaching math, the same math that I learned growing up in the Lake Charles school system and used while earning my engineering degree from LSU.” 

This proposed law is a critical step in ensuring that students in public schools receive high-quality math education. By improving the foundational numeracy skills of teachers, students will be better prepared for success in math and other subjects. This bill, along with Hewitt’s past legislation, continues to show why she is the “Louisiana Leader in Education.”

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