re: Bill would let state pay parents up to $15,000 to send kids to private school

It's not just private school tuition; apparently the funds can be used for nearly anything as long as you can justify some educational benefit. From the bill:

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"Qualified education expenses" means any of the following:

(a) Tuition or fees at a nonpublic school or for nonpublic online learning programs.

(b) Tutoring services provided by an individual or a tutoring facility.

(c) Services contracted for and provided by a public school, including but not limited to individual classes and extracurricular activities and programs.

(d) Curricula and textbooks or other instructional materials, including but not limited to any supplemental materials or online instruction required by a participating school or service provider.

(e) Computer hardware or other technological devices primarily used to help meet a student's educational needs.

(f) Educational software applications.

(g) School uniforms.

(h) Tuition or fees for summer education programs and specialized after school education programs but not after school childcare.

(i) Tuition, fees, instructional materials, and examination fees at a career or technical school.

(j) Fees for Louisiana Educational Assessment Program tests, national norm- referenced examinations, Advanced Placement examinations, and examinations related to postsecondary education institution admission.

(k) Educational services and therapies, including but not limited to occupational, behavioral, physical, speech-language, and audiology therapies.

(l) Fees for transportation paid to a fee-for-service transportation provider for the student to travel to and from a service provider.

(m) Parent navigation services.

(n) Any other educational expenses approved by the state board.

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This is from an article discussing a similar program in Arizona:

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During a public hearing last June, state Rep. Kellie Butler, a Democrat, read from a state government website a list of items for which the state had allowed parents to use ESA funds. Among the selections: an inflatable bounce castle, a home freezer, a tonal home exercise gym, a kayak, a San Diego whale watching trip, an in-home tower garden, and a hair dryer for dogs.

“If you have a curriculum that says you need these things, apparently you can get these things,” Butler said.

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quote:

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However, Arizona’s education department said in a February report that it was concerned parents had not uploaded receipts for more than 17,000 debit card transactions during the last quarter of 2022, meaning the department could not review those ESA transactions. The department said it had receipts for another 100,000 transactions during that period.

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I don't know exactly how similar the LA program would be, but who is going to possibly audit all of these transactions? There will be so much bullshite getting paid for with taxpayer money.

LINK