Stay or Leave: Louisiana’s Question
For many young people, they face a question, stay in Louisiana or leave? For some, the choice has already been made. Between hurricanes, lack of jobs, and politics, they move to Texas, California, Florida, and even Mississippi. According to the U.S Census Bureau, Texas saw a wave of 24,200 people in 2024. Yet, for some young people, the answer is not clear. Marissa “Mars” Ramsey, Lafayette resident, tells Jou Jordi, “I love the state, it is where I grew up and where my family lives…but I found there are a lot of problems.” In the report by U.S. News & World Report, Louisiana was 50th in overall ranking. On the other hand, Texas was first in economy with 2.3% in job growth. According to Marissa, “I know several people who work in Texas to make more money…it’s always money.”
This question is not recent; it is a question that has been asked by previous generations. For Morgan Bissant, New Orleans resident, it was her own family who tried to convince her to move. She recounts, “When I was younger, they told me that the only way we could get a job was if we moved somewhere else where business is booming.” But it’s not just work that’s making people relocate, education is another challenge. Louisiana has the fourth lowest percentage of high school graduates and the fourth lowest percentage of people with a bachelor’s degree. In a decade, public schools lost about 60,000 students, a pattern followed by a decrease in school funding and an increase in alternative schools.
In Saint-Landry parish, the school board voted to close seven schools before the new academic year. It is due to the decrease in enrollment and lack of funding to maintain the schools. A situation that the East Baton Rouge school board encountered in 2025 when they voted to consolidate their schools. It’s also a situation that the New Orleans school board fears for the same reasons.
For a francophone Louisianan such as Marissa, there isn’t much opportunity in the state. According to her, “If it’s not tourism or education, there isn’t a lot for a francophone.” She admits that she has thought about how it would be better to live in Canada or France. Louisiana has 36 French immersion schools with more than five thousand students in attendance. For the majority of these students, they stop studying in French after 8th grade. They cannot attend high school nor college in French. Colleges such as Louisiana State University (LSU) and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL) offer courses for French literature and film and French as a second language but have yet to open the door for general courses such as science or math in the language. Marissa tells us, “For me it starts and ends with education.”
Nonetheless, for both Marissa and Morgan, it wasn’t just culture that made them stay. It was their connection to the land, community, and family. In their eyes, Louisiana still has potential to become a state that offers more. With its diverse culture, rich resources, and “magic” that attracts people. Morgan’s advice is “to go see what you can do to make a difference in your community.”
