Hearing date set for voucher lawsuit

The date set for arguments to be heard in a lawsuit filed by teachers unions and local school boards challenging the constitutionality of Gov. Bobby Jindal’s statewide voucher program is Oct. 15. Baton Rouge Judge Tim Kelley chose the hearing date Tuesday in a meeting with lawyers for both sides in the case. Attorneys for two statewide teachers unions and dozens of local school boards say the voucher program, which will use tax dollars to send children to private schools, and other new education funding plans are unconstitutional. They argue it’s improper to pay for the programs through the public school funding formula, and they claim lawmakers didn’t follow the process for passing laws. Jindal and state Superintendent of Education John White defend the constitutionality of the programs and the process for passing them into law. In an action regarding a separate suit by teachers unions that attempted to block the August start of the voucher program, Kelley last week ruled that he couldn’t issue an injunction blocking the start because a law exists barring such an injunction if a state agency chief says issuing one would cause a deficit within the department. White and Commissioner of Administration Paul Rainwater had said in affidavits to the court that the Department of Education would face just such a deficit if the laws creating and funding the voucher program were blocked.