Louisiana students might qualify for TOPS with conservative-backed ACT alternative
Louisiana high school students might soon be able to take a conservative alternative to the ACT exam to qualify for the state's popular college scholarship program.
State lawmakers quietly approved an amendment to a bill Monday that would make results from the Classical Learning Test acceptable to qualify for the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students, which provides tuition assistance for qualifying Louisiana students.
Conservative educators are the chief proponents of the Classical Learning Test, which evaluates students on math, writing and grammar with an emphasis on classic literature and historic documents. Its supporters frequently tout that the exam emphasizes texts that 'shaped Western culture.'
The test has been embraced by conservative lawmakers in Oklahoma, Florida and Arkansas. and has the support of the conservative Cato Institution and Heritage Foundation.
Oklahoma lawmakers extensively debated embracing the test to qualify for their version of TOPS, with Democrats arguing it doesn't meet the same academic rigor and anti-cheating measures as the ACT.
In Louisiana, only Louisiana Christian University and the University of New Orleans Honors College accept the test for admissions, according to the CLT website.
The change to TOPS acceptance standard was made through an amendment to House Bill 77 by Rep. Chris Turner, R-Ruston, which creates a new level of TOPS awards for high-achieving students. There was no debate on the amendment and it passed without objection. The House approved Turner's bill in a 91-4 vote.
Rep. Raymond Crews, R-Bossier City, sponsored the amendment. Crews said Jeremy Tate, founder and CEO of Classical Learning Initiatives, which created and administers the test, asked him to do so.
Crews said he had not heard of the Classical Learning Test before Tate brought it to him, and he did not know that Tate was associated with the test.
Turner's bill was also amended on the House floor to allow students who leave the state for their undergraduate education to use their TOPS awards if they return to Louisiana to attend medical school.
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