LFC Applauds Louisiana Senate Education Committee’s defeat of anti-school choice legislation

The Louisiana Federation for Children (LFC), the state’s voice for educational choice, wishes to thank members of Louisiana’s Senate Education Committee for defeating legislation that sought to weaken the Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP). Senate Bill 13 would have placed restrictions on the eligibility of Kindergarten students entering the LSP.

“We want to thank members of the Senate Education committee who stood behind children and families who depend on the Louisiana Scholarship Program,” said Ann Duplessis, LFC’s President.  “Senate Bill 13 was a misguided attempt by Gov. John Bel Edwards’ administration to take away school choice options from hundreds of children entering Kindergarten.”

During the 2016-2017 school year, 6,695 students are participating in the Louisiana Scholarship Program, which was enacted in 2008 by a bipartisan group of legislators. Every child in the program comes from a low-income family. Eighty-nine percent of students in the program are minority students, giving many of Louisiana’s most vulnerable students the opportunity to choose the education that best fits their individual needs.

“We have the moral imperative to protect the educational options of every parent in Louisiana, especially minority and low-income parents,” Duplessis added.

LFC supports a wide range of educational choice initiatives, so that high quality public, charter and private schools flourish and parents will have the opportunity to select the quality school that works best for their children, and so that teachers will have the flexibility to select the school that best utilizes their strengths and interests. LFC also fights against bills and regulatory attacks that would create barriers for families in existing school choice programs.

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Ann Duplessis is a former state legislator where she served on the Senate Education Committee and fought successfully to expand educational options for Louisiana’s children by authoring and supporting numerous pieces of school choice legislation. Duplessis resides in New Orleans and remains active in numerous civic activities.

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