re: Why do Louisiana conservatives like TOPS?

quote:

---

Public education has NEVER been cut and is full of FAT, WASTE, and INEFFICIENCES. BUT, no one wants to go there.. Cut public education funding and let the parishes primarily fund it, just like every other state. Also eliminate TOPS while you're at it. AND then give everyone who pays taxes a huge tax cut.

---

i'm all for having local school district fund more of their own education costs (like most other states). But understand a few things about that...

1) Local school districts are going to have to raise sales and/or property taxes to do that. That's really the only two mechanisms they have

2) Our sales tax rate is already obscene

3) Because of our highest-in-the-nation homestead exemption, most of this new local taxation is going to fall on the middle and upper class

4) Because of all of the above, there better damn well be a reduction in state taxes.

I'm in favor of more local funding for K-12, not because I feel it's going to overall reduce funding, but I believe it will get more people invested in the system, and the system will have to more clearly show the need for money. Both of those should result in better school systems for the same amount of money.

PS - the only thing fiscal conservatives in LA like more than TOPS, is their homestead exemption of 75K

The voters of each parish SHOULD decide how much they want to fund public education. It works like this in almost every other state. Why are we different? We are spending WAY to much on public education in this state. Why doesn't the Advocate ever do some comparison studies with the spending levels of other states? Why is there no emphasis to make public education operate more efficiently in this state. There are millions that could be cut from the public education budget. We spend more per student than any other state in the South, by far (as of 2016):

LA $11,038
FL 8920
GA 9769
MS 8702
NC 8792
SC 10249
TN 8810
TX 9016

LINK

We spend per pupil the 29th-highest, and less than the national average.

Problem is, we get the 50th-highest results.

It's not the total amount we are spending is too high, rather, it's we are wasting tons of it. Plus, the percentage of money we spend on student support is way high, which is a function of the poverty level in this state. We have a lot of poor kids who need special services in this state.

There is hundreds of millions in fat, such as too many admins, too many central office people, and bloated contracts, not to mention, the bottom 20 percent of teachers. If that money was instead invested in the classroom, better teachers, better tech, etc... you would have much better results.

I guess the flip side is, we could cut spending in half, and we would still be the worst in terms of results.

It's both spending AND waste.

We spend more per student than any other state in the South, by far (as of 2016):

LA $11,038
FL 8920
GA 9769
MS 8702
NC 8792
SC 10249
TN 8810
TX 9016

So, we're spending more than other Southern states and getting little in return. Don't blame it on poverty. MS, TN, AL, and SC are poverty-stricken as well.

No one should be getting TOPS $. TOPs and fiscal conservatism are not in sync with each other.

quote:

---

I've always advocated that if TOPS is gonna happen then the requirements should be higher. I think 26 ACT should be the minimum

---

Why?

I agree. What a ridiculous comparison. Any kid who deserves an academic scholarship is getting one. They are getting TOPs in addition to the academic scholarship and using the TOPs money to buy a car, take a trip, have a few parties, etc.. And we taxpayers are footing the bill for this..

quote:

---

We spend per pupil the 29th-highest, and less than the national average.

Problem is, we get the 50th-highest results.

---

other statistics that will make you look twice on those numbers.
Which parish schools in the state qualifies most students quality for TOPS?

Orleans & EBR ranked #1 & #2, and it wasn't close.


Which makes sense when you consider-

quote:

---

New Orleans has the highest percentage of students attending private schools of any metro area in the country,
found that 25.1 percent of students in the New Orleans metro area attend private school, ranking it first above Honolulu and San Francisco.

Baton Rouge was fourth, with 19.1 percent enrolled in private schools

---

private school rates

quote:

---

They are getting TOPs in addition to the academic scholarship and using the TOPs money to buy a car, take a trip, have a few parties, etc..

---

That is not what the TOPS website says.

quote:

---

If the total of your scholarships, state and federal aid, and TOPS Award exceed the cost of attendance, your school will reduce any loans (if applicable) first and it will continue reducing your financial assistance until your awards do not exceed the cost of attendance. If the TOPS Award is totally eliminated, the semester or term will not be counted toward the maximum semesters or terms allowed.

---

Question 42 on page 13