AP Wire

Voucher students finally catching up to public-school peers

by The Associated Press

A new report says Louisiana students who attend private schools with taxpayer dollars have bounced back from initially dismal scores in math and English but aren’t outperforming their public school peers.

The Advocate reports the Education Research Alliance in New Orleans says after three years those voucher students were on par with public school students who tried and failed to land the assistance.

Around 7,100 students receive vouchers in Louisiana, and the study says 87 percent are black students. Louisiana spends about $40 million annually for the program.An earlier review said voucher recipients did “significantly worse” than their peers in the first year, and “slightly less negative” after year two. The latest review said after three years, voucher recipients were performing roughly the same as public school students.