Policy Director
American Federation for Children
In
some circles, much is being made of the recently released legislative audit of
Louisiana’s Scholarship Program, a statewide voucher program that allows
low-income families with children zoned to attend failing public schools the
option to attend a participating private school or high-performing public
school of their choice.
Currently, about 6,750 such students are participating
in the program, 86 percent of
whom are African-American. These are kids who need educational options. It is
worth keeping in mind that a multi-year, scientifically-based evaluation of a similar school choice programin Florida has consistently found that the scholarship program in that state
serves students who “tend to come from
lower-performing public schools prior to entering the program. Likewise, as in
prior years, they tend to be among the lowest-performing students in their
prior school, regardless of the performance level of their public school.”
The legislative
audit itself makes clear the high demand for the program – student
participation increased 269 percent from school year 2011-12 2013-14, the two
years since the program was expanded to serve students statewide beyond Orleans
Parish – including a 38 percent jump in enrollment since last year.
