Diplomas for sale: $465, no classes required. Inside one of Louisiana’s unapproved schools

SPRINGFIELD, La. (AP) — Nearly 9,000 private schools in Louisiana don’t need state approval to grant degrees. They’re unlike public schools, formal homeschooling programs or traditional private schools. Nearly every one of those unapproved schools was created to serve a single homeschooling family, but some have buildings, classrooms, teachers and dozens of students. Unapproved schools account for a small percentage of the state’s students. But those in Louisiana’s off-the-grid school system are a rapidly growing example of how families are disengaging from traditional education in the wake of COVID-19. Over 21,000 students are enrolled in the state’s unapproved schools, nearly double the number from before the pandemic.