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An effort to move some of Louisiana’s public school dollars to private education was nudged closer to final approval Tuesday, although it’s not the sweeping measure its authors originally proposed.
Senate Bill 313 by Sen. Rick Edmonds, R-Baton Rouge, gives authority to the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to create the Louisiana Giving All True Opportunity to Rise Scholarship Program – known as LA GATOR in shorthand. The House of Representatives approved the measure in a 67-29 vote.
Instead of a three-year implementation schedule initially proposed in Edmonds’ bill, the state can choose just how quickly or slowly they want to make the money available for more public K-12 students to attend private schools.
Legislative staff forecasted the so-called education savings account program would cost the state $260 million annually once it was made available to all families regardless of income, though the nonpartisan Public Affairs Research Council placed the amount closer to $520 million.
The only firm number in the bill now is a $1.8 million allocation to create the program. As to what the state will spend on actual private school vouchers, that will be up to the governor’s administration to propose and state lawmakers to approve.
Currently, Louisiana’s private school voucher program is only available to students from low-income households who attend poor-performing schools. More than 5,600 students use the vouchers, costing the state more than $37 million this past school year, according to a fiscal impact note on an earlier version of Edmonds’ bill.
The legislation originally called for all students to be eligible for LA GATOR money by the 2028-29 school year, but it now allows BESE to craft a program that can be implemented in “phases” without any firm dates attached.
Fiscal conservatives in the Legislature became increasingly wary of LA GATOR’s potential price tag after seeing the cost of other states’ programs skyrocket once they accepted all takers. For example, education savings accounts (ESAs) in Arizona were projected to reach $900 million for the 2023-24 school year, a 1,400% increase from forecasted levels.
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One final attempt was made on the House floor Tuesday to address a bipartisan sticking point: how to hold accountable private schools that accept LA GATOR funds. Rep. Larry Bagley, R-Stonewall, a retired educator, wanted students that accept vouchers to take the same learning assessment exams as their public school counterparts. An amendment he asked fellow House members to approve would have used those test results to give private schools a letter grade, with failing schools potentially prevented from accepting vouchers.
Rep. Julie Emerson, R-Carencro, who carried Edmonds’ bill in the House and wrote her own version, opposed the change. She noted the legislation allows private schools to conduct their own standardized testing to measure LA GATOR students’ process.
Bagley’s amendment failed in a 38-59 vote.
An amendment Emerson successfully added requires the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget to approve the vendor BESE and the state education department choose to operate the ESA program, which will likely entail a debit card system for families to spend state money.
The Senate will have to agree to that change before Edmonds’ bill is sent to Gov. Jeff Landry, who is expected to sign it into law.
The Louisiana chapter of Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group with financial backing from the Koch family, paid for a television commercial campaign with the governor to drum up public support for the LA GATOR program.
The Louisiana House just passed the Gator Scholarship Program! This is now one step from final passage! The Gator Scholarship ensures school choice and empowers parents to choose the learning environments that align with their values and work best for their children!
I look… pic.twitter.com/yetNc7AUR5
— Governor Jeff Landry (@LAGovJeffLandry) May 28, 2024
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