re: Somebody please explain Landry's "school choice" plan to me like I'm 5.

What value do we citizens receive for the funds the State spends now? Zero.

Better to give that money to parents than be wasted by the bureaucracy of Louisiana.

If we're good with Alabama, Texas and Florida passing up Louisiana educationally, then why bother funding public education at all? Those states recognize the value of parental input on education, why can't Louisiana???

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Better to give that money to parents than be wasted by the bureaucracy of Louisiana.

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The parents aren’t getting the money, private entities are the recipients of the funds.

High-quality schools may choose to raise their fees to match the state tuition supplementation, attracting parents who seek to avoid their children interacting with specific demographics in public schools. In Louisiana, many families opt for private schooling for this reason, prioritizing controlled social environments for their children.

Furthermore, entrepreneurs seeking opportunities may create private schools primarily for the purpose of accessing government funding, enrolling students from lower-income backgrounds. In cases of misconduct, these schools may expel students while retaining the allocated funds, mirroring the practices of charter schools. Some less informed parents may perceive private schools as superior simply because they are private, much like the perception of charter schools being superior to public schools in some circles.

In the end, taxpayers incur higher costs with little real gain. Parents might be misled into thinking they are getting something substantial, but the educational outcomes continue to mirror economic disparities, shaping students' success based on their economic and demographic circumstances. This bill isn’t going to change this reality.

Did you ask the AI chatbot to answer that for you.

It is all about choice. If you decide to send your kid to some flyby night school then that’s your choice. If you decide to send your kid to a top tier school and your kid is intelligent, respectful and disciplined, then that’s your choice.

Private schools are more than just catholic schools. Why this board hates on Catholics is beyond me. There are Episcopalian, Baptist, non-denominational, non-religious and secular private schools. There are schools dedicated to arts and music. Others focus heavily on stem. Competition will keep costs down.

For you less informed, there are less kids on Louisiana than 2 decades ago. The competition to have these kids in a school means these schools survive. If the schools don’t perform well then they will fail. Ultimately, something with a better idea or better model will take over these schools and attract students.

If you think kids will leave Baton Rouge High to go to private school, you’re stupid. The same thing can be said with U-High and the lab school. There’s the math science and arts academy is Natchitoches and other good public schools that kids won’t leave.

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Currently, there is no cost associated with students choosing private schools, but under this bill, each student opting for private education will require a minimum of $5,000 in funding from us.

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5k for private instead of $13k that would also be spent on that same child by the state in the public school system.

Many kids may opt for private in that scenario, which would save money for the state, no?

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The parents are getting the funds and are allowed to spend it on any qualified expense.

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That’s how they phrased it; however, those additional expenses only matter if your tuition was less than the subsidy. How often will that happen?

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That’s how they phrased it; however, those additional expenses only matter if your tuition was less than the subsidy. How often will that happen

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There may be a significant tax advantage using a START K12 investment account to pay for tuition; $2400 is tax deductible per year and earnings are tax free if used to tuition. Then using the GATOR ESA for other qualified expenses like tutoring, a laptop, extracurriculars. The ESA funds will roll over each year according to the bill.

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Private schools are more than just catholic schools. Why this board hates on Catholics is beyond me. There are Episcopalian, Baptist, non-denominational, non-religious and secular private schools. There are schools dedicated to arts and music. Others focus heavily on stem. Competition will keep costs down.

For you less informed, there are less kids on Louisiana than 2 decades ago. The competition to have these kids in a school means these schools survive. If the schools don’t perform well then they will fail. Ultimately, something with a better idea or better model will take over these schools and attract students

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You said it well.

When I first heard of it during an interview on WWL, I looked at it as Landry is pissed at the public school system, that it costs too much, and there is no motivation for the school to improve itself.

Giving the money to the parents gives them power and choice. Public schools will finally be run like a business. I always get entertained wathcing a public school board meeting with the irate parents complaining and the school board having the demeanor of "well what are you going to do about it? You are stuck in our district so you get what you get and do what we say."

It gives those parents the ability to say flip off and take their kids somewhere else.

Many public schools will go defunct.

On paper I think it is a good idea, but I agree with a previous poster that current private school families who barely make ends meet in order to protect and better their child (yes there are many PS families like this) are the ones who will suffer.

I have multiple thoughts on this.

1. Private school parents are about to get screwed if this passes. Tuition is fixing to skyrocket to keep undesirables out.

2. They do have some good public school systems in the state and they are about to get screwed if this passes.

3. It’s more of a culture problem than an education problem. If education is not a priority for a student at Belaire it will not be a priority for them wherever they go using this program. If they are a thug at Belaire, they will be a thug at a private school. They will get kicked out of the private school for being a thug, and be back at Belaire right where they started.

4. The LHSAA is fixing to have more of a headache if this passes.

So he admits that the state school system is so shitty that he’d rather pay for your kid to go to private school instead of investing the money to upgrade schools and give teachers raises?

Huh?