PAR to White: More accountability needed for voucher students

A letter PAR sent to state Superintendent of Education John White today urges him to transparently implement additional accountability practices for the new school voucher program being implemented across the state. The letter comes on the heels of discussion among education officials suggesting tests and other oversight for voucher students will be less stringent than rules for public school students. The guidelines are being developed by White, as required by a new state law, and BESE is scheduled to meet next week to discuss the rules, which are due by Aug. 1. “The challenge now is to create accountability methods so that taxpayers can be confident their money is being well spent and that progress can be measured,” the letter says. “As a way of judging schools, parental choice is important. But parents need good information and reliable comparisons to make good choices. In addition to the parents, the students and the rest of the state have a stake in the educational success of Louisiana’s children as well. At the same time, care must be taken not to regulate the nonpublic schools in ways that are unnecessarily burdensome.” You can read the complete letter here.