Posted on 04/05/2012 11:58:31 AM PDT by Gopher Broke
BATON ROUGE — Louisiana will be home to one of the nation’s largest school voucher programs once Gov. Bobby Jindal signs legislation that recently passed his state’s legislature. Today, by a vote of 60-42, the Louisiana House of Representatives approved Gov. Jindal’s voucher expansion, which passed the Senate last night 24-15.
“This is a momentous day for the families of Louisiana,” State Superintendent of Education John White said. “All students deserve a fair chance in life, and that begins with the opportunity to attend a high-quality school. These policy changes are aligned with that central belief, and Gov. Jindal and state lawmakers have demonstrated a clear commitment to prioritize the educational rights of Louisiana’s next generation above all else.”
The expansion of the Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence Program will allow low- and middle-income students in Louisiana public schools graded “C,” “D,” or “F” by the state accountability system to receive government-funded vouchers to attend private schools. Currently, that option is available only to children in New Orleans and students with special needs in eligible parishes.
Last month, a poll commissioned by the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, an organization supportive of school vouchers, found that 60 percent of Louisiana voters surveyed were in favor of Gov. Jindal’s plan to provide vouchers to more families statewide.
(Excerpt) Read more at view.exacttarget.com ...
I <3 Governor Jindall!
He IS awesome...
I’d like to see him run for POTUS
Indiana’s Governor Mitch Daniels shepherded the nation’s largest school voucher program throught the state legislature and everyone on this board considers him a Rino; Jindal does the same with a much smaller program and receives conservative kudos.
Pretty obviously, it’s more than their position on school vouchers that determines whether they are a RINO.
This will punch another hole in the NEA; good news and good initiative. Let’s see other big states controlled by the GOP like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Ohio follow suit.
So, when is Obama/Holder’s “jus’ dis” department going to rule this “unconstitutional?”
Geaux Bobby!
Piyush! Piyush! Piyush!
I would love to see him as GOP VP nominee this year!
Vouchers, Choice and Charters spell the end of LOCAL ELECTED control. State control is NOT a good option.
If this gives parents the ability to choose a local private or religious school, why is that not a move in a positive direction?
There are plenty of parents in my town that would love the ability to get their tax money back and choose another K-12 option.
Is this the first state to do this?
“LOCAL ELECTED”? You mean “teacher controlled” school boards. The donations and candidates come from the local teacher thugs, excuse me, unions. State control is not the option, parental control is. The eventual goal, parents keep their tax money and decide where and when to send their children for education.
I wonder how they define 'low- and middle-income." Sounds like welfare if the same option isn't available for everyone. While I can't stand government schools, I fear that vouchers are the beginning of state-control of private schools. After all, if state money is being used, then they will start deciding what they can and can't teach.
Jindall+bc+Palin4vp
a little cajun lingo there?
Mr. Daniels, who took office in 2005, has reduced the number of state workers by 18 percent and held spending growth below inflation.
A statewide school voucher program was enacted. Children in homes with an income under $41,000 could receive vouchers equal to 90% of the cost of their public school tuition and use that money to attend a private school. It provides lesser benefits to households with income over $41,000. The program will be gradually phased in over a three-year period and would be available to all state residents by 2014.
In the 2005 session of the General Assembly, Daniels and Republicans, with some Democrat support, successfully enacted a voter registration law that required voters to show a government issued photo ID before they could be permitted to vote. The law was the first of its kind in the United States, and many civil rights organizations, like the ACLU, opposed the bill saying it would unfairly impact minorities, poor, and elderly voters who may be unable to afford an ID or may be physically unable to apply for an ID. To partially address those concerns, the state passed another law authorizing state license branches to offer free state photo ID cards to individuals who did not already possess another type of state ID.
Upon appeal the United States Supreme Court also ruled in favor of the state in April 2008, setting a legal precedent. Several other states subsequently enacted similar laws in the years following.
In May 2011, the state ended all funding for Planned Parenthood and all other health service providers who offered abortion services. Another law enacted banning abortions for women more than twenty weeks pregnant. Planned Parenthood and the ACLU subsequently brought a lawsuit against the state alleging it was being targeted unfairly, that the state law violated federal medicaid laws, and that their Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated. A May 11 ruling allowing the case to move forward, but denied the request from the petitioners to grant a temporary injunction to restore the funding; however, a June 24 ruling prohibited the state from enforcing the law.
Indiana became the 23rd right-to-work state in the nation, and the first in the industrial Midwest, home to many of the nation’s manufacturing jobs.
I'd like to know what makes him a RINO.
Excellent. Nothing like an empty school to get the attention of crappy teachers and crappy administrators.
Wish California had this.
I would sure like to see an endso to union control and the debt that pensions have created which will bankrupt us. I would just urge caution. Change and choice have not eerved us well in the last 50 + years.
[ He IS awesome...
I’d like to see him run for POTUS ]
If we end up in a brokered convention and Gingrich/Palin get “drafted” I would love to see him drafted as VP.
[ Vouchers, Choice and Charters spell the end of LOCAL ELECTED control. State control is NOT a good option. ]
The sheer existence of the Federal Department of Education and teacher’s unions invalidates your point.
At least with vouchers parents can “vote with their feet”, which is better than union control and federal control.
Ideally we would like to make it “like it was”, but as long as the Federal Dept of Education exists, vouchers and charters are the only escape hatch parents have.
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