‘Worst’ to first: Louisiana readies new ESAs for fall

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. That appears to be the case in Louisiana.

After enduring what state Superintendent Cade Brumley called “the worst” school choice program in the country, the Bayou State is poised to enter a new realm of educational freedom.

This fall, Louisiana will start offering education scholarship accounts (ESAs) called LA GATOR, which stands for Louisiana Giving All True Opportunity to Rise.

GATOR replaces the Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence Program (SSEEP), which produced lackluster results. The low-income program was enacted in 2008 and expanded in 2012.

It was available to about 37% of the state’s students but never topped 7,400 participants. After peaking in 2015, the number of students declined steadily to about 5,400 today. During the same time, school choice programs in other states have expanded under record demand.

A big reason for the failure in Louisiana was excessive regulations placed on participating schools.

“Louisiana’s scholarship or our voucher program that has existed for about a decade is considered the worst in the country,” Brumley said in a recent call to discuss the state’s success in improving public school test scores. “And it’s because it’s heavily regulated and it is a struggle to keep high quality schools in that program.”

Less than a third of the state’s roughly 400 private schools joined SSEEP, and they tended to “have declining enrollment and charge low tuition,” nola.com reported. 

This was because the state required schools to admit all applicants, limit their tuition to the $6,800 state scholarship and administer the same annual state tests used in public schools to scholarship recipients. 

Because of the regulations, the program “tended to attract schools that were more desperate for the money,” Michael McShane, director of national research for school choice advocate EdChoice, told nola.com. Adding struggling students to already struggling schools wasn’t a recipe for success.  

The academic results were so poor that some students actually did worse once they went to private school. Challenges have persisted, and rather than reform the program the state decided to pass GATOR last year. 

While school choice critics have pointed to Louisiana as “proof” that school choice doesn’t work, advocates say SSEEP offers a lesson in the right and wrong ways of running school choice. 

Brumley said he’s “grateful” for the schools that have remained part of the program but is confident that GATOR, with its ESA model and the support of Gov. Jeff Landry and the state Legislature, will work better for students. 

Participating schools won’t have to accept all applicants, can charge their normal tuition and can administer a nationally recognized assessment or achievement test of their choosing. 

“I do think that students will fare better than they had previously fared because the assessments that they will be using are aligned to the standards being taught in those schools and aligned to the mission of the schools,” Brumley said. 

The state will also mirror best practices of successful school choice programs in states such as Arizona, Florida and Utah, giving parents a high degree of flexibility and control over their child’s education. 

GATOR can be used for homeschools and hybrid schools, as well as online instruction, providing flexibility for families. Experts have already described it as more flexible than other school choice programs in the South. 

The reforms bring Louisiana into alignment with the 14 other states that have universal school choice. Texas could join them as lawmakers are expected to vote on a major bill this month. In total, more than 30 states and the District of Columbia have some form of school choice. 

And while Brumley and others celebrate recent progress in public school reading and math scores, the Republican-led state is intent on pursuing true educational freedom, where parents can pick from high quality options, whether public, private, at-home or remote. 

“This is a major step towards ensuring school choice, and empowering parents to choose the learning environments that align with their values and work best for their children!” Landry said when GATOR passed the state Senate last year, making a strong case for school choice.  

Landry also knows the bottom line. 

“Your money deserves to follow your child,” he told a Catholic high school. “Sometimes we forget that tax dollars are not the government’s money.”