That's more than 1 in 4 children of school age (5-17)
and that's not necessarily in public schools:
Within the Orleans Parish School District borders, specifically, 38 percent of children ages 5-17 come from families in poverty, according to data released Wednesday (Dec. 17) from the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates program. In the East Baton Rouge Parish School District borders, 28 percent of school-aged children are in poverty. And in Jefferson Parish School District borders, 27 percent are in poverty. Many school aged-children who live within school districts' borders, however, attend private, Recovery School District or other charter schools. Students whose families can afford to sent them to private school students are less likely to live in poverty, so the concentration of school-aged children in poverty who actually attend public schools is likely much higher. For example, more than 80 percent of the students within the East Baton Rouge Parish School System qualify for the free and reduced lunch program.
The national average is
just over 1 in 5 children and Louisiana is only the fourth highest rate of school-aged children living in poverty. Mississippi, New Mexico and our nation's capitol, Washington D.C., all have higher rates.