Teacher and students outside their one-room schoolhouse. Many poor families had to choose between buying their children shoes or school books. ~ Courtesy of the State Library of Louisiana.
Huey Long championed the idea that education is every child’s birthright and restructured the tax system to shift the financial burden of education from poor families and parishes to the state.
Upon taking office, Long pushed a bill through the legislature to provide free textbooks to every Louisiana student. Opponents resisted the measure, stating that the proud families of Louisiana should not be forced to accept charity from the state. They also opposed Long’s plan to finance the program with a tax on oil production. With free textbooks, school enrollment instantly increased 20 percent.
Huey Long's adult literacy program taught 100,000 Louisianians to read ~ Courtesy of the State Library of Louisiana.
Long’s education initiatives built new public schools and provided free busing to ensure all students could attend school. He established adult vocational schools and night classes that taught 100,000 of the state’s 238,000 illiterate adults to read by 1932.
Long promoted higher education by expanding Louisiana State University and lowering the cost to attend. Despite the Depression, enrollment at LSU tripled by 1936, and it quickly became one of the finest universities in the South. Thousands of young adults who previously would have followed in their parents’ footsteps, by eking out a living on the farm, had the opportunity to chart their own careers.
Children thank Huey Long for the free text books provided by his administration. ~ Courtesy of the State Library of Louisiana.
