4,994 qualify for school tuition aid

Nearly 5,000 students are enrolled in Louisiana’s expanded voucher program, state Superintendent of Education John White said Thursday.

The aid stems from a law pushed by Gov. Bobby Jindal and approved earlier this year by the Legislature.

Students attending public schools rated C, D or F and meet income rules can apply for state aid, which is supposed to pay for tuition and mandatory fees, primarily at private and parochial schools.

Jindal calls the aid an option for students trapped in failing public schools.

Opponents have challenged the law in the 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge.

They say vouchers takes vital dollars away from financially strapped public schools.

In a prepared statement, the state Department of Education said that 14 percent of the 4,944 voucher students attended C schools, 69 percent in schools rated D and 17 percent in schools rated F.

A total of 118 schools are taking part, and all but one is a private or parochial school.

Comments

1) Comment by timesright - 14/09/2012

phil, you have that exactly right. Taxpayers are paying for the students to go to these "schools" that have agreed to accept vouchers. Will students get as good an education at the new schools as the ones the students left is yet to be seen. IMO, I doubt it. In fact it will likely be less.

2) Comment by phil - 14/09/2012

If 4,994 students get this aid and leave all the rest of the students in the schools that are supposed to be failing, then how does that result in an equal education for the thousands who are left in the public school system? I think this is just a ploy to get more tax funds for some private school owners and some others.

3) Comment by phil - 14/09/2012

Let's see, we all pay taxes for public schools which is supposed to be for the benefit of all children so they can have a "free" public education. Then we are introduced this new play on words called "school tuition aid" for something that is supposed to already be "free". I guess now it is more "free" than it was before? Don't you know when you are being played? "Free" on top of more "free" equals more taxes for the public. Of course the word free here is in quotes because it really is not free for all who pay.

4) Comment by LawyerDan65 - 14/09/2012

ALthough proponents of the vouchers said local dollars would not be used, in the MFP budget memo recently sent to all local school systems, there is a column setting forth the "Tuition Allocation...Local Portion". In pareishes where the non-public school tuition being paid by a voucher is less than the State funded portion of the MFP, local school systems are still be charged by the State for a portion of the tuition. Example: In St. Tammany Parish the State portion of the MFP is $5578, the tuition at Holy Ghost School is $4000, but the St. Tammany Parish School System is still being "allocated" $2012 toward the tuition, which is more than HALF the cost of the tuition. Since they also do not get the State MFP for a studetn attending Holy Ghost, the total loss to the school system is $7590, for each student on a voucher.HMMMMMM how is this not local funding of vouchers?