Much has been written recently about school choice, which means giving parents government money they can use to send their children to private or parochial schools. Louisiana has been doing that since Bobby Jindal was governor from 2008 to 2016 and student success has been extremely disappointing.

The Advocate in a recent report on what was then called a voucher program said it has fallen short on its promises. The newspaper quoted what Ginny Gentles, a supporter of school choice, said last year while interviewing Cade Brumley, Louisiana’s state superintendent of education.

“Louisiana is kind of famous for having one of the weakest, or maybe the weakest, private school scholarship program in the country,” Gentles said.

Michael McShane, director of national research at EdChoice, a pro-voucher group, said, “It was a very heavily regulated program and it tended to attract schools that were more desperate for the money.”

Under the voucher program, private schools get about $6,800 per voucher student and most don’t get state ratings. However, the newspaper said 30 private schools were graded last year and nearly 80% earned Ds and Fs.

State regulations forbid F-rated private schools from enrolling new voucher students. However, the newspaper said Brumley waived that rule in recent years and that allowed even the worst-performing schools to take in more students and tax dollars.

Louisiana’s new program that is expected to begin in March is called the LA GATOR Scholarship Program. It will cover students’ tuition and other private education expenses. State officials expect the program to cost nearly $94 million next school year, more than double the annual price of vouchers.

Republican Gov. Jeff Landry loves the new program, previously saying, “These kids, there’s no price we won’t pay to make sure they get a good quality education.”

President Donald Trump also loves school choice, so it’s no surprise that Louisiana’s new program is almost a carbon copy of what Trump wants in the nation’s schools. Trump wants schools to limit lessons about racism and oppression, roll back protections for transgender students and teach an “inspiring” version of U.S. history.

Landry was also quoted in the Trump story, saying, “Louisiana continues to lead the nation in these common sense reforms.”

Well, maybe not. While the new scholarship program will replace vouchers, many of the same private schools have already signed up — including over 20 with D or F ratings.

Despite the poor success of the voucher program, supporters of the new program say it is a bigger, better version of vouchers. However, low-income families will still be first to be eligible for the tax-funded scholarships.

Unlike vouchers, private schools that participate in the scholarship program can decide which students to admit and how much to charge them. Rather than use the state test, they can choose which assessment to give students. And the schools will no longer be regulated by the state.

The Advocate said even as Brumley stopped imposing sanctions on voucher schools, he led the charge last year to adopt a stricter rating system for public schools.

David Claxton, superintendent of Jackson Parish schools, said if the state is going to give private schools tax dollars, they should be held to the same standards as public schools.

“You still want parents to have choice,” he said, “but let’s make it a fair playing field.”

Critics of the new program say they are doubtful that the top-performing private schools will enroll students with the greatest academic needs. Instead, those students will likely land at less-selective private schools with more open seats, which tend to be lower-performing.

Don’t expect those who created the LA GATOR Scholarship Program to ever admit it has any flaws. They continue to talk about issues that aren’t a major problem at public schools. And Trump and Landry are singing the same tune.

Landry said Louisiana parents want their children to be “free from the indoctrination of the latest social, radical cause.”

Trump says “parents have witnessed schools indoctrinate their children in racial, anti-American ideologies.”

Brumley also echoed the other two when he said, “I appreciate President Trump’s efforts to empower states, focus on fundamental academics and expand school choice for families.”

All three officials are actually doing some questionable indoctrinating of their own.

Jim Beam, the retired editor of the American Press, has covered people and politics for more than six decades. Contact him at 337-515-8871 or jim.beam.press@gmail.com.

ReplyForward Add reaction