DOE launches plan to reduce voucher wait list

State Superintendent John White announced Friday a plan to reduce or eliminate the wait list for the Louisiana Scholarship Program. White said 362 children are unsure what school they will be able to attend because the state underfunded the scholarship program.

Paul Dauphin, director of communications for the American Federation for Children, said Thursday that 28 northeastern Louisiana families are on the wait list. Dauphin said Friday that count did not account for a statewide reduction of 80 students that White said had been made in the past 24 hours.

The proposed DOE plan asks nonpublic schools participating in the program to accept a potential “worst case scenario” of a nominal payment from the state of less than $100 per child for the year. He called the move an extraordinary sacrifice that normally would not be asked of schools.

Part 3: 9 NELA schools part of scholarship program

White said if more students than budgeted for attend public schools, the state is legally obligated to provide finances for the additional students. That is not the case with schools in the scholarship program.

"This policy is undemocratic and unfair," White said in a letter to Sen. Eric LaFleur, D-Ville Platte, and Rep. Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, who lead the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget. "It puts at grave risk the civil rights of families who are not wealthy enough to pay tuition at schools they believe will best educate their children."

LaFleur said it's "almost impossible" to think the nonpublic schools will get more funding than was approved in the current budget. Agreeing to the proposal would be a nice gesture on the schools' part, he said, but there's no guarantee the state will fund the scholarships.

"They're not taking a risk," LaFleur said. "They're making a donation."

LaFleur said the voucher program, and the MFP funding for public schools, might have to be cut more by the end of this fiscal year. Multiple programs, he said, will be fighting for any discretionary dollars available.

White said the financial difference between funding the students at public schools or on scholarship is negligible to the state, but the moral impact is significant. In total, the program is approximately $2 million short of funding all students on the list.

In the spring, when the Legislature analyzes how many additional students are in public schools and the additional funds owed to those schools, he'll ask that private schools get the same consideration and be appropriately funded.

The Legislature, LaFleur said, cannot fund something that was not in the budget retroactively.

Monroe City Schools kick off school year

Rikkie Jones, of Rayville, applied for two children to attend Family Community Christian School in Winnsboro. Her first-grader was accepted, she said, but her seventh-grader was put on the wait list.

She said her children will both attend public schools.

While she doesn't have a problem with public education, Jones said she doesn't see anything wrong with seeking a better opportunity for her children. The goal is to make sure her children are in a well-performing school, not necessarily a "preppy" environment.

"I'm not up for competition," she said. "I'm up for education."

The DOE will have a list of nonpublic schools that have accepted the proposal on Aug. 22.

Follow Bonnie Bolden on Twitter @Bonnie_Bolden_ and on Facebook at http://on.fb.me/1RtsEEP.