Second amendment would benefit many children across La.
Published 6:00 pm Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Amendment 2 on the Oct. 12 statewide election ballot is designed to add schools to the list of those already benefiting from Louisiana’s Education Excellence Fund. The American Press recommends a yes vote on the amendment.
The Education Excellence Fund is a component of the Millennium Trust, which was created in 1999 from proceeds from a nationwide tobacco settlement to support excellence in educational practice. The state Department of Education oversees the fund, which can only be distributed to elementary and secondary schools and special schools that offer education programs for instructional enhancement — such as early childhood education programs for at-risk children, remedial instruction, or to help children who fail to achieve test requirements to advance to the next grade.
The fund cannot be used for building maintenance, capital improvements or to increase employees’ salaries.
The Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana (PAR) in its Guide to the 2019 Constitutional Amendments said $15.6 million of the fund was distributed last year — $15.1 million to 153 local schools and school systems and 43 non-public schools and the rest was authorized by the Legislature to go to specific public schools not part of a local school system. Those schools were the Louisiana School for the Deaf and Visually Impaired ($153,646), the Louisiana Special Education Center ($75,648), the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts ($81,458) and the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts ($79,219). Each of those schools had to submit an annual plan to the state Department of Education on how they would spend the money and their performance expectations.
If the proposed amendment passes, one legislatively approved special school, Thrive Academy, and two laboratory schools operated by colleges, the LSU Laboratory School and the Southern University Laboratory School, would also receive appropriations. Each school would receive $75,000 plus the average per pupil amount the fund pays to other public schools. The Louisiana Educational Television Authority, which is a state agency providing statewide educational programming through Louisiana Public Broadcasting, would also receive $75,000.
PAR said Thrive Academy was not in existence when the fund was created and the original language of the appropriation should have included laboratory schools. The amendment would fix the omission.
PAR said the television authority, through LPB provides “unmatched quality and access to many children across the state, particularly underserved children under six years of age.”
The American Press supports this amendment.
