Jim Beam column:School choice has drawbacks

American Press

17-05-2025

Gov. Jeff Landry and many Republicans in the Legislature are conveniently overlooking some major drawbacks in their proposed LA GATOR school choice program. The program gives tax dollars to eligible families to pay for private and parochial school tuition and other approved education expenses.
Landry wants legislators to appropriate $94 million to fund the program's first year. However, a month ago Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, said it would be half that amount because that was the original agreement.
The Advocate reported that the $94 million would fund grants for an estimated 12,000 students, or roughly a third of 40,000 eligible applicants. Half of that would give grants to 6,000 students who are already receiving school vouchers.
Voucher students will be given top priority for the school choice grants that can range from $7,600 for lower-income families to nearly $15,300 for students with disabilities.
OK, here are some of the drawbacks:
Only about 11,000 students in the 40,000 families eligible for grants are enrolled in public schools. The others are already enrolled in private and parochial schools or home schools.
An official with the Pelican Institute that supports the school choice program said, 'Without a GATOR scholarship, it's very unlikely they're (students) going to be able to stay in private school or afford home-based education. They're going to end up in public schools.'
Some might, but the odds are most of those families would continue paying for their children to attend private or home schools. They are already doing it.
The superintendent of Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of New Orleans said the $7,600 grants for lower-income families would cover the full cost of elementary school tuition and most of the $12,000 average tuition for grades eight through 12.
Another report by The Advocate Monday said families in the state's rural areas have few options for using school grants.
A Winn Parish single guardian on a fixed income wants to put her grandson in a new school, but there are no private schools in Winnfield or Winn Parish — or in four of the six surrounding parishes that are participating in LA GATOR.
'There's no opportunities here,' she said.
An analysis by The Times Picayune and The Advocate said 16 of Louisiana's 64 parishes do not have a single private school that signed up to enroll students full-time through LA GATOR, and another 18 parishes have just one private school. That leaves only 30 parishes offering more educational opportunities.
Only 11% of eligible students who applied for the grants live in rural parishes. Not a single family applied in Winn Parish.
State Rep. Jack McFarland, R-Jonesboro, and chair of the House Appropriations Committee that handles the state budget, said, 'In my district, those opportunities just don't exist.'
McFarland said he would rather see more funding for public schools, which anchor many rural communities but operate on shoestring budgets. 'They haven't had an increase in years,' he said.
Then, there is the question about whether private schools are always the better choice. The Times-Picayune and The Advocate in a February news release said school vouchers were supposed to be an academic lifeline for Louisiana children but voucher students at private schools fared worse on state tests than their public school peers.
'While the new scholarship program will replace vouchers, many of the same private schools already have signed up — including over 20 with D or F ratings,' the news report said.
President Donald Trump supports school choice programs, so it's no surprise the U.S. House wants to set aside up to $5 billion a year to help families send their children to private and religious schools.
The Associated Press said U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, sponsored a similar proposal in the Senate.
'Giving parents the ability to choose the best education for their child makes the (American Dream) possible,' Cassidy said.
Don't students in the state's rural areas also deserve to share in the American Dream?
Supporters of programs like LA GATOR have clearly forgotten much of their American history. Before public schools were created, only the wealthy in this country could afford tutors to teach their children. Critics say school choice will aid the wealthy at the expense of the public school systems that serve the overwhelming majority of students..
Is that where we are now headed?
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 [e-mail]. Reply Forward
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