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BATON ROUGE (AP) -- Teacher unions say Gov. Bobby Jindal's education proposals will steer money from public schools and won't offer adequate pay for teachers or support workers.

The Republican governor's proposals include several that unions have repeatedly opposed over the years, including a "school choice" program, merit pay, and a tax credit of up to $5,000 per student for parents who send children to private schools or teach them at home.

"I didn't expect what is now appearing to be, it looks like to me, an ideological agenda. This is right off the pages of what I would expect (Washington) to roll down," Steve Monaghan, president of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, said Wednesday.

A $1,000 pay raise proposed for teachers falls below the amount sought by the unions. And Jindal isn't recommending any raises for cafeteria workers, teacher's aides and other support workers, though union leaders say many barely earn above the poverty level.

The unions supported a Democrat in the fall election.

The first education battle between the governor's office and the teacher groups begins in a special session that starts Sunday.

Jindal wants lawmakers to give families with children in private schools an individual income tax deduction for tuition costs, with parents of homeschooled children getting a tax deduction for education expenses. The deduction, capped at $5,000 per student, would cost about $20 million a year.

"We want to make sure that every family is able to find a school that best fits their needs," Jindal said.

Former Gov. Kathleen Blanco vetoed a similar proposal last year. Teacher unions and public school advocacy groups called the tax break a backdoor "voucher" proposal to funnel state dollars to private schools.

Monaghan said a similar proposal in Arizona widened the gap between poor students and those whose parents made enough money to send them to private schools. He said it appears to violate the constitutional mandate that the state provide a sound education for every child.

The program "would move our focus and our attention to providing an incentive for folks to move to private, parochial education and a reward for folks that already have their children there," he said.

Louisiana Association of Educators President Joyce Haynes said her union disagrees with any proposals that provide incentives to steer state dollars to private schools that don't have to take every student or meet the same testing standards as public schools.

"We want great public schools for every child, so we must continue to fight any issue that would take moneys from our public schools. We should be pouring money into our public schools and into educating our children," Haynes said.

Monaghan and Haynes also oppose two items tucked into the governor's budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year that begins July 1: a $20 million "flexible funding" pool for local school districts to distribute to teachers based on their performance and a $10 million "School Choice Initiative" that would let students use state money to attend private and parochial schools in New Orleans.

Those items will be debated during budget discussions in the regular legislative session that begins March 31.

Teachers don't believe their performance can be fairly measured against each other because of the differing situations by district and classroom, and they don't think their pay should be tied to test scores, Monagahan said. He said the program was proposed without discussions with teacher groups and without clear definitions of how performance would be judged.

Jindal administration officials said they will provide clear explanations of the policy plans for the money as lawmakers comb through the budget in greater detail.

The two union leaders also said while Jindal's budget crafters may call the $10 million pilot program a "School Choice Initiative," it's a voucher program — and the unions oppose voucher programs.

"What's the difference between this and vouchers?" Rep. Karen Carter Peterson, D-New Orleans, asked Jindal administration officials Wednesday.

The governor's top budget adviser, Commissioner of Administration Angele Davis, said the program would offer scholarships to students in New Orleans that they could use to go to any school of their choice. She said it was new money being provided for the program, not diverted money from public education.

"We're not taking money away from the public school system," Davis said.

She told Peterson the administration was still working to develop the policies for the program.