In 1995, then-Governor Edwin Edwards, a Democrat, signed a weak charter school bill (Act 192), which allowed eight districts to participate in a pilot charter school program. The law was substantially enhanced in 1997 by Act 477, which allowed all 66 school districts to participate in the program. However, the number of charter schools statewide was capped at 42.[1]  In addition, Act 477 enabled charter applicants to re-apply for a charter from the Louisiana School Chartering Authority, part of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), if the local district denied the initial application.[2] Changes to the law were made in 1999 and 2000, including the authority to contract with a for-profit organization for management services (H.B.1401).[3]

The Louisiana Department of Education classifies the state's charter schools into four categories, which determine whether schools can enroll students outside of the district, how they are funded, their degree of independence from the district, and the percentage of low-income students they are required to enroll.[4]

In May 1997, the Louisiana Senate Education Committee defeated a $300 million voucher bill, Senate Bill 343, by a vote of 4 to 3.[5] This bill would have created state vouchers to be used toward tuition at private schools, including schools with a religious affiliation. On the basis of the state's per-pupil expenditure for public schools, approximately $2,500 would have followed a student to a school of choice.[6]

Voucher legislation was stymied again in 1999 with the failure of House Bill 725, which died in committee. The bill would have authorized tuition vouchers for amounts up to $1,500 for students who qualify for the free lunch program. The program would have phased in students in grades K-3 over three years, starting with kindergarten and 1st grade students in the 2000-2001 school year. The vouchers would have been administered through a Right to Learn program that would have been supervised by a five-member commission.[7] Two other bills, H.B. 1652 and S.B. 299, would have created the Education Voucher Program, a private-school voucher program that would have been implemented over a 13-year period. Kindergarten students would have been eligible in the program's first year, 1st grade students in the second year, and students in higher grades in subsequent years. Both of these bills also died in committee.[8]

S.B. 964, which would have created the Louisiana Opportunity Scholarship Program, was also introduced in 1999. This bill would have made it possible for students in grades 1-7 in schools that had been declared "academically unacceptable" by the district to receive scholarships to attend a private school until 8th grade. The bill was passed in committee but was tabled on the Senate floor by a vote of 22 to 14.[9]

It was not until 2001 that state-funded vouchers became a reality in Louisiana. In 2001, $3 million was included in the state budget to help low-income families pay tuition for all-day pre-kindergarten at private schools or religious schools as part of a one-year pilot program. The American Civil Liberties Union immediately challenged the measure, arguing that money from the state budget had been appropriated without legislation that would determine its use. To quell the opposition and give evidence that a clear plan accompanied the money, then-Governor Mike Foster made public the program's outline, including the draft of a contract with Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, which would administer the project. The Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education compiled a list of approved nonpublic schools that students could attend.[10] For the 2001-2002 school year, the program provided approximately $4,700 per recipient.[11]

Two privately funded organizations in Louisiana, CSF-Baton Rouge and CSF-New Orleans, provide scholarships to needy students. Both programs operate in conjunction with the Children's Scholarship Fund, the privately funded national scholarship organization that matches parents' expenditures for their children's education.[12] CSF-Baton Rouge awarded 93 scholarships in 1988 (its first year) and 77 scholarships in 2002-2003.[13]

On June 28, 2000, in a 6 to 3 decision, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the practice of lending educational equipment, including computers and books, to private schools for nonreligious purposes.[14] Under Chapter 2 of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, funds were provided to public and private schools based on enrollment. Parents in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, filed suit against the state, arguing that the practice of lending equipment to private schools violated the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. In 1985, a federal appeals court struck down the aid program. The Court ruled, "[I]f numerous private choices, rather than the single choice of a government, determine the distribution of aid pursuant to neutral eligibility criteria," wrote Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, "then a government cannot, or at least cannot easily, grant special favors that might lead to a religious establishment."[15]

In 2003, then-Governor Mike Foster proposed providing vouchers to students attending the state's academically troubled public schools. State Representative Carl Crane (R-70) then introduced H.B. 1337 to provide vouchers to low-income students. The bill required private schools in the program to have two years of nationally recognized testing data. It also mandated state testing for all students, even those not on state scholarship. Three similar bills were voted down in committee on April 30.[16]

H.B. 1771 would have established the Louisiana Parental Choice in Education Program to provide scholarships or tutorial grants to low-income students in poor-performing schools. Students in grades K-8 would have been able to use the scholarship at another public, charter, or eligible private school or for tutoring. The scholarship would have been worth the state share of public school funding or private school tuition, whichever was less. To be eligible to participate, private schools would have had to meet certain requirements such as minimum enrollment and approval by the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. The bill was defeated in committee by a vote of 14 to 3.[17]

H.B. 854 would have phased in vouchers starting with kindergarten students in 2004, adding vouchers for students in the next higher grade each year until 2016. Any student would have been eligible to participate in the program, and the vouchers could have been used for tuition at any state-approved nonpublic school. The bill was killed in committee by a vote of 13 to 4.[18]

H.B. 1739 would have provided vouchers to poor students in low-performing schools in parishes with a population of at least 475,000 persons (New Orleans). The bill required private schools in the program to have five years of testing data using a nationally recognized test. It also required schools to give all students, both private pay and voucher students, the state math and reading tests. This bill also lost in committee by a vote of 13 to 4.[19]

On May 8, the Senate Education Committee, by a margin of 3 to 2, voted to shelve one voucher bill (S.B. 1037) and set aside two others (S.B. 985 and S.B. 943). S.B. 1037 would have provided scholarships to low-income children for preschool or K-3 education. Under S.B. 985, poor students in grades K-8 would have been able to use a state-funded scholarship at another public, charter, or eligible private school or for tutoring. S.B. 943 would have enabled students in grades 1-7 who attend a poor-performing public school to transfer to an approved private school. Students on state scholarship would have had to participate in the state testing program.[20]

Also in May 2003, S.B. 710, which provides for district takeover of consistently low-performing schools, was signed into law. . Management of any school that is found "academically unacceptable" will be transferred to a Recovery School District. A fifth type of charter school was also created under this bill, and these schools will operate in Recovery School Districts.[21]

Results from two studies in December 2003 revealed that students participating in the state's preschool voucher program showed greater academic gains than did their public school counterparts. David Blouin, a professor at Louisiana State University, conducted the study of private school students, while Georgetown University Professor Craig Ramey studied public schools. The Times-Picayune reported that after a year in the private program, student scores increased from the 22nd percentile to the 60th percentile on a nationally normed test. Public school students also gained, moving from the 3rd percentile to the 51st percentile over the course of the year. In language, private school students improved from the 26th percentile to the 62nd percentile over the course of a year, while public school students moved from the 9th percentile to the 58th percentile.[22]

State Representative Steve Scalise (R-Jefferson) introduced voucher bill H.B. 1288 in the 2004 legislative session (the Senate companion was S.B. 220). This bill would have permanently authorized the Louisiana Parental Choice in Primary Education Demonstration Program, the state's pre-kindergarten voucher program. For the past three years, the state has provided 1,500 preschool students from low-income families vouchers to attend private preschools.[23] Although H.B. 1288 was voted down 12-1 in the House Education Committee, the program will continue next year.[24] In the Senate, S.B. 220 failed to pass on a 15-23 vote. A similar bill was introduced in H.B. 1370. This bill also would have allowed students to participate in nonpublic pre-kindergarten programs at no cost. H.B. 1370 stalled in the House Education Committee.[25]

S.B. 50 introduced by Senator John Hainkel (R-New Orleans) would have allowed students receiving vouchers under the preschool choice program to remain at their school of choice through third grade. The bill stalled in the Senate Education Committee.[26]

H.B. 366 also would have created a four-year pilot voucher program. Under this legislation, students in low-performing Orleans Parish public schools would have been awarded vouchers to transfer to a private school of choice. Vouchers could not have exceeded the per-pupil amount for the school district. No action was taken in 2004.[27]

In July 2004, S.B. 874 was signed into law, providing for full funding of Type 2 charter schools that have operated for at least 10 years. Type 2 charter schools are converted public schools or new charters.[28]

H.B. 1129, entitled the "Louisiana Education Voucher Program," would have created a voucher program to be phased in over 12 years. Kindergarten students would be eligible the first year, 2004-2005, and one grade would be added each year until 2017-2018. Vouchers would be worth the state's per-pupil average or the receiving school's tuition. No action was taken before adjournment.[29]

In April 2005, Representative Timothy C. Burns (R-89) introduced H.B. 613, which would establish a pilot four-year voucher program for students in low performing schools. Students in kindergarten through 5th grade in low performing schools would be eligible for vouchers worth up to their parish's per-pupil expenditure. The bill passed the full House on June 9, 63 to 36, but one week later a 3 to 3 vote in the Senate Education Committee prevented the legislation from going to the full Senate for consideration.[30]

In response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which ravaged parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, House Committee on Education and the Workforce chairman John Boehner (R-OH) and Rep. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) introduced H.R. 4097, the Family Education Reimbursement Act. The bill would create Family Education Reimbursement Accounts--essentially vouchers for students displaced by the storms. The vouchers would be worth up to $6,700 per student and could be used at a public, charter, or private school of choice. The program would last for only one year.[31]