Education savings accounts bill in Louisiana advances as debate over true cost continues

Shannon Heckt
·3 min read
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BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry is pushing a bill that would create education savings accounts for students to use tax dollars to go to the private school of their choice.

The Louisiana Giving All True Opportunity to Rise bill, or LA GATOR, is advancing in the legislature. The program will allow families to apply for money from the state to put their kids into private schools of their choice.

The funds will be divided up into three levels and phased in over three years:

  • Students with exceptionalities can receive up to $15,099. (The Department of Education says there are an estimated 94,066 students in public schools and 18,230 in private schools that could qualify for this amount.)

  • Students whose families make below 250% of the federal poverty line can get up to $7,550. (LDOE reports 406,101 students in public schools and 24,471 in private schools would fall under 250% of federal poverty guidelines and could be eligible under this formula.)

  • All others can get up to $5,190. (LDOE reports 150,202 public and 107,094 private students would fall under this funding category).

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“This is about helping kids get a better education, the best education for them,” said State Rep. Julie Emerson, R-Carencro.

Lawmakers have been trying to pass a version of this bill for years. The bill is estimated to cost between $298 million a year once it is opened up to everyone, but some project it costing upwards of a half a billion dollars a year.

“You have to either be willing to raise that amount in new taxes or you have to take that from somewhere else in the budget,” said Jan Moller, executive director of Invest in Louisiana.

Lawmakers pushed back against the financial concerns saying the bill states the legislature will determine how much money will be put into the program.

“Our responsibility is solely to decide if we have the ability to fund this. If we don’t, then no students will receive these dollars,” said State Rep. Jack McFarland, R-Jonesboro.

The School Boards Association wants to have tests in place to prove students would actually benefit from this program. The group was against the voucher program that is currently in place when it was proposed.

“When we spend that kind of money, we have to have true accountability,” said Dannie Garrett, executive counsel for the Louisiana School Boards Association.

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Some advocacy groups fear students in public schools will move to the private schools and take away MFP dollars from them. There could be savings if a large enough number of students leave a school by not needing to hire as many teachers. If a select few leave the MFP money goes with them, but the school still has bonds and other expenses to pay. There is also a concern that students who can already afford private school will take funds away from low income students. Some people want to have a set of priority students when the funding is open to all.

“If it is subject to appropriation and you appropriate less money than there is demand, then what happens? Is it a first come, first choice, which I’ve heard that as a possibility? I would be concerned about that because then you’d have potentially wealthier families who would have access to it,” said Steven Procopio, president of PAR Louisiana.

The bill saw a bipartisan vote for both the yes’s and no’s. It now heads to the full House for more debate.

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