Louisiana Voucher Application Period Ends, Brighter Future for Thousands of Students Begins

It’s not only the end of the workweek,  but also the end of application period for the recently-expanded Louisiana voucher program, Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence (SSEE). With only a month to spread the word (the application period ran from May 22-June 29), our Louisiana friends wasted no time implementing the statewide program. 

Our friends from the south at the Louisiana Federation for Children and the Black Alliance for Educational Options teamed up with the state’s Department of Education to quickly (and effectively) communicate about the expanded program, its requirements, and the application period from Shreveport all the way down to New Orleans. For the geographically-challenged, that’s north Louisiana to south Louisiana.

The aggressive outreach campaign included an informational website, direct mail, radio ads, billboards, outbound phone calls, an educational roadshow, and much more. You can rest assured that eligible parents received the word that this program—an indispensable educational opportunity—was available to them.

Take a look at the video below, courtesy of our friends at Louisiana BAEO. At eight minutes long, it tells the story of the battle the Louisiana reformers endured and the momentous success that followed. 

Originally enacted in 2008 for students in Orleans Parish, the SSEE program has consistently boasted high parental satisfaction rates, to the tune of 90 percent.  And during the 2011-12 school year, it served more than 1,800 students in New Orleans.

In its first year of expansion, more than 100 schools have signed up to participate offering nearly 5,000 seats from grades K-12—an impressive feat with such a short turnaround. (Remember, the program was just signed into law by Gov. Jindal on April 18.) And just last week, the state Department of Education reported that more than 6,000 applications have already been submitted. This number was expected to continue to rise as additional applications were input into the system and were still being submitted by eligible parents. 

Louisiana Enacts Statewide Expansion of Scholarship Program

Gov. Bobby Jindal prepares to sign House Bill 976 today in Baton Rouge.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal today signed into law House Bill 976, representing a major step in his bold education reform agenda—and a lifeline for thousands of families in the Bayou State.  The legislation expands the Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence (SSEE) Program to students all across the state from low- and middle-income families who are attending failing public schools.

The legislation, which passed with strong bipartisan support in both chambers, will expand eligibility to as many as 380,000 children statewide.  Families with a household income of less than 250 percent of the federal poverty level are eligible for the program is their children attends a school rated “C,” “D,” or “F” by the state.

The SSEE Program was created in 2007 for students from low-income families in Orleans Parish attending failing schools.  In the 2011-12 school year, more than 1,848 students received scholarships.

Click here to read more about the history of AFC's role in bringing school choice to Louisiana families.

Louisiana Federal Senators Support Work of State Senators

The Louisiana Legislature yesterday moved the Bayou State one step closer to expanding the New Orleans voucher program statewide.  In a major step toward providing more educational options, school choice advocates around the state praised the measure.

And we got a surprising statement of praise out of the nation’s capital as well!

You'll recall how Senator Mary Landrieu (D) last month referred to the proposed voucher expansion as "illusionary."

Yesterday, after the bill's passage, her tune had changed -- for the better. Read below to see what she said.

The Costs of Public and Private Education

The United States on average spends $10,591 to educate a student each year in our K-12 public education system. That number includes funding from federal, state, and local sources.  Utah has the lowest state per-pupil expenditure in the nation, spending $6,612 per pupil, while the District of Columbia spends the most, at $19,698.

Compared to public school expenditures, how much money is being spent by some of the most established school choice programs?

State	Program	Per-Pupil Expenditure	Average Scholarship in Choice Program
Florida	Florida Tax Credit Scholarship	$8,867	$4,011
Louisiana	Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence Program	$10,625	$4,864.08
Washington, D.C.	D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program	$19,698	$9,000
Wisconsin	Milwaukee Parental Choice Program	$11,183	$6,442

 

School choice advocates have long touted the success of educational achievement and attainment among students who participate in voucher and scholarship tax credit programs.  But school choice programs also make sense fiscally.

- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, MSG

Newspaper Editor’s Support for Vouchers in the Bayou State

How Common Sense, Research, and Pragmatism Brought this Independent Voter to Support School Choice 

There's been much talk in recent weeks about Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal’s plan to expand the highly successful New Orleans voucher program to students in failing schools and low-income families throughout the state.

In recent days, some of that talk has come from the executive editor of the Houma Courier and Daily Comet.  As Keith Magill says in a recent editorial, supporting the voucher program is not about being conservative or liberal; it’s about helping kids who are not receiving a quality education.  Read below for more:

I consider myself neither conservative nor liberal, though, depending on the issue, both friends and detractors have labeled me one or the other. I have never registered with any political party, and since I was old enough, I have been a part of what has since become the fastest-growing category of American voter: independent. For me, common sense, credible research and pragmatism trump partisanship and party politics.

And the more of the former I apply to Jindal's voucher plan, the more I like it. Here are some reasons:

Meaningful change is long-overdue. For generations, Louisiana's school system has ranked among the nation's worst. It's so bad that more than two-thirds of the state's public schools are rated a C or worse. Forty-four percent are rated D or F. Locally, all but four of Lafourche's 28 public schools and all but 10 of Terrebonne's 36 are rated C or lower. Only one public school in Terrebonne and none in Lafourche earned an A in the latest rankings. Louisiana cannot continue delivering its children and young adults an education that puts them at a competitive disadvantage to their peers in almost every other state, not to mention many other countries. We owe them better.

Parents Show Demand for Choice During New Orleans Signup

Children smile during the signup period for the New Orleans voucher program.

Today wrapped up a short but highly successful signup period for enrollment in the New Orleans voucher program for the 2012-13 school year.

Hundreds of families applied for the Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence (SSEE) program, which held a four-day signup period this year that began on Friday and ends today. Some parents arrived as early as 5:30 a.m., creating a line of more than 100 families hours before the doors even opened!

The SSEE Program is gearing up for its fifth year of providing an educational options to low-income parents whose students attend failing schools. With more than 300 families applying on the first day, the sign-up period is expected to have drawn multiple thousands of interested parents.

Held at the University of New Orleans, many parents were overjoyed to be able to apply for the program, but still others were turned away because their children's school only received a “C” rating—performing poorly, but apparently not poorly enough to offer an alternative for families.

Learn the Facts About Louisiana School Choice Programs!

THE STATE OF SCHOOL CHOICE IN LOUISIANA

While an odd-numbered year means a low-key summer and fall across the country, there's no such rest for the weary this year in Louisiana. Elections in both the State House and Senate this November mean that candidates are arleady engaging voters, as they'll do over the next three months.

It's no surprise that education will be a major issue in campaigns across the state, especially in the aftermath of attempted funding cuts to the flagship New Orleans voucher program, which allows students in failing schools to attend higher-achieving private schools. Curiously, though, attempts to shutter the program are at odds with public opinion; not only do New Orleans residents support the program, but people throughout the state overwhelmingly support expanding the program to more cities.   

But beginning this year, the New Orleans program won't be the only expanded educational option in Louisiana. We take a look at the current landscape of school choice in the Bayou State: 

Setting the Record Straight in Louisiana!

We here at School Choice Now! are all for healthy debate about our programs—and education reform proposals in general—to ensure that, above all else, they're helping kids. But what we don't like is when people take potshots at school choice programs based upon single snapshots of slanted data, and especially when such potshots disregard a host of other metrics that tell a completely different story.

In Louisiana, data was recently released comparing standardized test scores of some students participating in the New Orleans voucher program to their public school peers. Putting aside the host of data and feedback that illustrates great satisfaction (not to mention increased demand) with the program, one analysis of the data in particular fails to take into account some of its glaring flaws.

In a release that went out today on behalf of the Louisiana Federation for Children, we aim to set the record straight. Read the full details here.

Why the Latest Louisiana Fight Highlights the Need for School Choice Expansion

Last week we came perilously close to losing a school voucher program for low-income kids in one of the communities that needs it most.

After the Louisiana House Appropriations Committee cut funding for the highly-successful New Orleans Scholarship Program, advocates mobilized to help save the program, culminating last Friday in an agreement that restores the program's funding.

The legislative bickering over the program's future highlights the disconnect between lawmakers and their constituents. The people recognize the program's success, even calling for school choice expansion expanding in large numbers. A poll released earlier this year by the Louisiana Federation for Children found that support for extending educational options to families across East Baton Rouge Parish is very, very strong. Seventy-two percent of voters support the idea of school choice in their community, and a significant majority goes even further—they want a voucher program in East Baton Rouge like the highly-successful one in New Orleans. Here are some of the reasons why:



And, for the second year in a row, applications for the New Orleans voucher program significantly outpaced spots available during a much-publicized sign-up period during the spring. And in the East Baton Rouge poll, fewer than two percent of survey respondents gave traditional public schools in East Baton Rouge an “A” grade, and a majority described the city's school system as “broken.” In addition, almost six in 10 think that the New Orleans program should serve more than just residents of Orleans Parish. Parents are not only engaged, but their engagement is sending a clear message: more options are needed for their children. Our elected officials need to take note.

It’s time for Louisiana legislators to own up to the promise they made to their constituents to represent their best interests. Otherwise, the same 72 percent who are demanding school choice in East Baton Rouge will be the ones electing new leaders come this November.

Politicians in the statehouse must stop pointing fingers and start implementing some commonsense solutions. The parents of these children care, and if empowered and given an active role in choosing the best educational options for their child, we can improve the situation of thousands of students across Louisiana.


- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, MAG