Select the author or a Tag to see more stories like this one
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — In a major legislative success for Gov. Bobby Jindal, the Louisiana Senate voted 25-12 Wednesday for a bill that would let up to 1,500 low- to middle-income students in New Orleans attend private schools at taxpayer expense.
Already approved by the House, the school voucher bill by Rep. Austin Badon, D-New Orleans, needs one more routine vote in that body on Senate language changes before it goes to Jindal for his signature.
Backers say the bill will help at least some New Orleans children escape a struggling school system, widely known for corruption, bad management and poor student performance before and after Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005. Opponents point to recent improvements in New Orleans public schools that have been realized since the state and various charter organizations began running them after the hurricane. They say the $10 million would be better spent on public schools.
Opponents also said the cost is likely to balloon as the first-year students progress and more students enter the program. "When we get to the end how much is this program going to cost?" asked Sen. Joe McPherson, D-Woodworth.
The plan would cover children in kindergarten through third grade in the 2008-09 school year, with subsequent grades added each year thereafter. Children from families earning up to 2.5 times the current federal poverty level (or about $53,000 for a family of four) would be eligible. If there are more applicants at a school than there are available seats, the school would choose participants randomly.
Although the bill is aimed at up to 1,500 students, backers say there may be only a few hundred slots available at private schools in the city next year.
"I think we all have the same goal," said Sen. Ann Duplessis, who urged support for Badon's bill in the Senate. "How do we create a process that begins to move our kids out of failing systems?"
In a state with a long history of voting down voucher plans, the Senate vote provided Jindal with a major victory on an issue dear to his conservative base at a time when his star is rising in national Republican politics and he is being mentioned as a possible vice presidential candidate.
Other than an a limited pre-kindergarten program approved several years ago, Louisiana's Legislature has routinely defeated voucher programs despite the state's long history of Catholic education in the south and strong religious conservatism in the north.
Until now, influential teacher unions and public school administrators have been able to fight off voucher bills as harmful to public education. And resistance remains strong as evidenced by a proposed amendment to make the voucher plan apply statewide. It was defeated 5-29.
Return to the Share Your Stories Page
|
|
