Coalition Statement On Voucher Ruling

Founder and chair of the Coalition for Louisiana Public Education Jack Loup attended the recent hearings on the constitutionality of funding non-public voucher schools from the state funding source for public schools. Loup concluded, “Parents have always had a “choice” in their child’s education—the choice among public, private, parochial schools or home schooling. Because we want every child to succeed, we acknowledge that parents have the right to make that decision. However, having the state pay for that choice, for non-public school options from the Minimum Foundation Program (MFP), is unconstitutional.”

Loup, current president of the St. Tammany Parish School Board, pointed out that the ruling goes beyond the funding for voucher schools only. He said, “diverting from the K-12 MFP fund the funding for a variety of non-public school measures – including private/parochial voucher school tuition; the new concept of non-public “course provider” funding; payment for “transfer students” to non-public schools; and scholarships for early graduates who have exited the K-12 system – all such funding was ruled unconstitutional.”

Mike Deshotels, Coalition member, retired teacher and author of the Louisiana Educator, described the recent ruling as historic: “For the first time in our history, there is a strong coalition uniting teacher organizations and school boards. This coalition made the win possible in the voucher lawsuit and will be even more important in upcoming legislative battles. These recent events demonstrate to us that there is an all out war against public education. But this war is by privatization interests, not by the average taxpayer or public school parent. Remember, 98% of parents eligible did not apply for vouchers!”

Coalition member Scott Richard, Executive Director of the Louisiana School Board Association (LSBA), which was a co-plaintiff in the lawsuit regarding Act 2, which included the voucher funding question, said: “We didn’t want it to come to this; if the issue had been properly vetted during the last legislative session—instead of railroaded through—we wouldn’t have needed to do this.”

Speaking for the professional educators—school board members, administrators and school system employees-- who opposed the reforms which brought about Act 2, Richard said, “We are not anti-reform. We just want the political shell game to stop with public funding for public education.”

LSBA attorney Robert Hammonds, acting in this lawsuit on behalf of LSBA and 43 public school districts in the state, pointed out that the MFP is supposed to fund public elementary and secondary schools only, and that the MFP budget document itself actually states, “These funds are for the public education of children in Louisiana.”

Coalition member Steve Monaghan, president of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers stated, “Today’s ruling was a victory for the constitution and the rule of law. It was also a victory for the nearly 700,000 children who depend on public schools for an education, and for local citizens who do not want their tax dollars diverted away from the uses they intended.”

Monaghan concluded, “No governor and no legislature can ride roughshod over our foundational governing principles. We hope that we can quickly resolve this issue and get to work in collaboration with the legislature and the administration on true education reforms that will create excellent schools for all the children of our state.”

Coalition member Joyce Haynes, president of the Louisiana Association of Educators, noted that “Friday’s decision was a significant victory in defending the right of every child in Louisiana to attend a quality public school. We need to adequately fund the institutions where the majority of our students learn,” she said. “And a majority of Louisiana’s students learn in public school classrooms.”

Haynes continued regarding another issue with Act 1, “There was an issue LAE Attorney Brian Blackwell said violated the specific directions of Louisiana voters. He said, “Voters approved taxing themselves to better the public schools in their home parishes,” he said. “No voter was ever asked to approve public funding of non-public schools.”