A new report by the Louisiana Budget Project says that Gov. Bobby Jindal’s push to dramatically expand the state’s private school voucher program is lacking the accountability and transparency parents need to make informed decisions about their children’s educational needs. The report gives Jindal’s plan an “F” on accountability. The existing voucher program pays for 1,850 students in Orleans Parish to attend private schools. Jindal’s plan would make 380,000 children—54% of all Louisiana public school students—eligible for the program. However, the LBP report says, voucher schools would not be required to test all their students, nor would they be rated using the same A-F scale currently holding public schools accountable—discrepancies that the LBP sees as huge flaws. “Private schools receiving state vouchers should be held to the same accountability standards as public schools,” says LBP Director Jan Moller. “Assessment tests allow parents, as well as Louisiana taxpayers, to see what results they are getting for their money. Handing over public resources to private schools with no strings attached is bad public policy.” The report recommends that voucher schools be required to test all their students and that students from the worst-performing public schools be given first priority for vouchers. Read the entire three-page report here. Based in Baton Rouge, the LBP is a nonpartisan, nonprofit research group and a policy initiative of the Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations.
Today’s poll question: Do you think Gov. Bobby Jindal’s plan to expand the voucher program lacks accountability, as the Louisiana Budget Project contends?
