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# Change for the better
- URL: https://www.redeyebr.com/change-for-the-better/
- Published: 2026-08-31T01:35:31.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-31T01:35:31.000Z
- Description: Baton Rouge Alliance for Students wants engaged residents to understand, not just debate, what's really happening in the city's public schools.
- Author: JR Ball
- Tags: News, Last Call

The Baton Rouge Alliance for Students opened its ninth class of Changemakers this week, with 28 new members embarking on a 10-month journey to better understand public education in Baton Rouge.

Rather than relying on knee-jerk assumptions or treating long-held opinions as facts, Changemakers exists to explore the realities and opportunities within the public education ecosystem, one engaged resident at a time.

**Why it matters:** Beyond its mission, what's inspiring is seeing people from every Baton Rouge demographic come together to learn and improve our community.

**Powered by youth:** The program is open to everyone, but its energy comes from the passion and engagement of a group of young professionals in Baton Rouge.

- There's no cost for the program, which includes monthly discussion sessions, school tours and visits to other cities to see how they tackled education challenges.
- What participants learn, among other things, is that some stats that look bad on paper are, in reality, impressive given some students' circumstances, while first-glance positive numbers aren't so great once examined.
- In short, Changemakers exposes each class to an unvarnished look at what's working and what's not within Baton Rouge's public K-12 options.

**Notable quotable:** "Changemakers is about bringing people together who believe that every child deserves the opportunity to thrive, and giving them the knowledge, relationships, and tools to help make that possible," says **Adonica Pelichet Duggan**, CEO of the Baton Rouge Alliance for Students.

**The bottom line:** Baton Rouge won't run out of headlines about its schools anytime soon, but a room full of young people willing to do the work is a pretty good sign the city isn't out of people who care.