U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon visited a Baton Rouge elementary school on Monday morning to praise Louisiana's improved reading scores , her first stop on a cross-country tour as the Trump administration pushes to dismantle the Department of Education and grant more educational authority to the states.

McMahon said during a stop at the Jefferson Terrace Academy that she embarked on the “Returning Education to the States” tour to collect best practices that have shown educational success.

With Louisiana’s unprecedented improvement in national rankings , the state seemed a natural starting point, she said.

State Superintendent Cade Brumley, East Baton Rouge Parish Superintendent LaMont Cole, U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy and other officials toured classrooms Monday morning at th

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