Louisiana School Voucher Program Held Unconstitutional
The Louisiana Supreme Court recently struck down the state’s school voucher
program, finding it violated the state constitution because the law (1) diverted public school funds for private education; and (2) violated certain state
constitutional procedural requirements for enacting legislation. Louisiana Federation of Teachers v. State of Louisiana.
The Louisiana school voucher program allowed the diversion of funds specifically
allocated for public education to private schools for students who were awarded
a scholarship under the voucher program. The law was challenged by a number of teachers' unions and parents and students in the public school system.
The Louisiana Supreme
Court ruled that the voucher program violated a provision in the state constitution that requires the state legislature to "fully fund the current cost to the
state" of "a minimum foundation program of education in all public
elementary and secondary schools," and the "funds appropriated shall
be equitably allocated to parish and city school systems." According to
the court, because the state constitution requires educational funds to be
allocated only to public schools, the funds could not be diverted to private
schools.
The court also ruled that the voucher program law violated two
procedural requirements of the constitution:
(1) it was introduced in both houses after the twenty-third calendar day
of the regular session and (2) the law
did not obtain the required 2/3 vote of the house.
0 comments:
Post a Comment