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Let's start with an assumption. If a parent is going to seek out a voucher to send their kid to a non-public school, they probably at least have some desire to see their kid be successful. If they didn't give a crap about their kid, it would certainly be easier to just let the kid go to the nearby public school. Putting the kid in private school definetly requires an investment of effort from the parent.

Having said that...

quote:
On average, voucher students at private schools fare worse on state tests than their public-school peers, according to scores examined by The Times-Picayune and The Advocate. In 2023, just 14% of voucher students in grades 3-8 met state achievement targets, compared with 23% of low-income students at public schools.

This is after a decade of this program.

quote:
The private schools that get about $6,800 per voucher student face scant oversight. Unlike public schools, most don’t receive state ratings because they enroll too few voucher students. But 30 private schools were graded last year, and nearly 80% earned Ds or Fs.

The schools that are taking the most voucher kids...are the schools that are doing the worst (with a few exceptions). Let that sink in.

quote:
While the scholarship program will replace vouchers, many of the same private schools already have signed up — including over 20 with D or F ratings.

quote:
But proponents insist the scholarship program, which includes fewer regulations, will attract stronger schools and achieve better results than vouchers.

“I think what we learned is that a private-school choice program is only as good as the quality of the private schools that are enticed to participate,” said Patrick Wolf, an education policy professor at the University of Arkansas who studied Louisiana’s vouchers.

In that program, he added, the “quality level appears to have been quite low.”

This is the absoutely critical part. There are many good private schools out there... hardly any of them took vouchers. Will they take this state money? The good private schools, generally, have waiting lists, especially elementary schools. I would also imagine the parents that are paying full price are going to have some pushback against their good schools taking these kids.

quote:
“It was a very heavily regulated program and it tended to attract schools that were more desperate for the money,” said Michael McShane, director of national research at EdChoice, a pro-voucher group.

THis is a pro-voucher person saying it was just a money grab!!

quote:
Last school year, nearly 6,000 students received vouchers, costing taxpayers $45 million. More than 75% of those students attended private schools where fewer than 1 in 4 voucher students achieved “mastery” on the state tests, meaning they’re ready for the next grade level, according to an analysis of state data by The Times-Picayune and The Advocate. At least 26% went to schools where fewer than 1 in 10 voucher students achieved mastery.

quote:
Lakeside Christian Academy in Slidell posted some of the worst results last year: Fewer than 5% of its voucher students achieved mastery. The school, which enrolled 79 voucher students, earned Fs three years in a row.

Principal Buffie Singletary said voucher students typically arrive at the school far behind, with limited reading skills, making it difficult to catch them up.

I get they may need to catch up... but if they stayed in public school, they would need to catch up as well. And public schools are STILL doing better than your crappy Christian Academy.

I'm good with parental choice... with parental money. When you are using my tax dollars... I want the best results. This ain't it.

If we can get the better schools to participate... great! But the terrible schools - the private schools that are WORSE than the public schools - need to not get any money.