The state Department of Education says private schools accepting taxpayer dollars through the statewide voucher program have until Sunday to submit their enrollment numbers, after which the state education agency will verify and release the total number of students receiving publicly funded private education. The total number of students receiving publicly funded private education in Louisiana will be revealed next week, as private schools accepting voucher students through the new statewide voucher program have until Sunday to submit enrollment numbers.
The Associated Press reports that the state Department of Education will verify enrollment numbers from private schools and release the information by next week.
The voucher program has been the most controversial and heavily scrutinized piece of Gov. Bobby Jindal's education reform package, even prompting legal action by The Monroe News Star, which sued the state education department recently over public records that the department has refused to overturn.
State Education Superintendent John White has denied requests from both The News Star and The Associated Press for employee emails pertaining to the voucher program and its lack of accountability to private schools accepting public money.
Private schools across the state, most of them religious, offered almost 6,000 seats to low-income public school students who were zoned for public schools with a letter grade of C, D or F.
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