Is there any question Bobby Voucher is hostile to public education? Gov. Bobby Jindal once and for all settled rumors that he might have a sympathetic bone in his body for public education - he does not - vetoing a bill that would have established a tax rebate for people who make donations to low-performing public schools. House Bill 1106 by Rep. Katrina Jackson, a Monroe Democrat, enjoyed overwhelming bipartisan support, clearing the Senate 33-4 and sailing through the House 96-0.
Jackson, according to The Times-Picayune, was stunned by Jindal's veto. "The only bill that sits on the governor's desk which truly helps our public schools to receive much needed resources will not see the light of day," Jackson said in a statement. "This is truly a blow to public education."
According to the T-P, the percentage of a donation that could be claimed as a rebate was based on the school's letter grade, with failing schools meriting a 75 percent rebate. Jackson's bill also capped the program at $10 million, but the pro-privatization governor wrote in his veto letter that HB 1106 "provides for an additional $10 million outside of the [Minimum Foundation Program - the funding formula for public schools], but does not have a corresponding appropriation in House Bill No. 1." Translation, lawmakers didn't set aside $10 million in the state budget to cover the program.
The governor has nearly 700 bills into law.