The landmark education bill of the legislative session has been filed. Carencro Representative Julie Emerson is the author of the Louisiana Gator Scholarship program, which seeks to give all families an opportunity to receive taxpayer dollars to send their child to a private school. Council for a Better Louisiana President Barry Erwin says Governor Jeff Landry has touted school choice…
“The people are limited right now. They don’t want just the option of going to the public school in their neighborhood or that they’re required to go to and this will really provide opportunities to people who have not had them before.”
Erwin says in the first couple of years, the proposed program would resemble the state’s current voucher program, which uses public dollars to help low income families send their children to a private school. He says after three years, the program would be available to all parents regardless of financial need…
“After three years it opens it up to people of whatever income. People who have already been paying to have their kids in private schools. So I think there’s going to be a lot of serious debate about this.”
Cost will be a major question. About six-thousand students currently receive vouchers in Louisiana, costing the state more than 45-million dollars. Erwin says this proposal calls for eligibility limits to be eliminated in the fall of 2027 and it’s unclear how much money the state is willing to put towards this program and will it take away from other state services?
“So I think the concern is if it gets too big, the pressure’s on the budget are going to impact some of these other programs.”
The bill has yet to be scheduled for debate in the House Education Committee.
