As Louisiana prepares for this year’s regular legislative session, a host of education reform bills appear to be on the table. The most notable among them are those that give money to families and not schools.
According to The Advocate, there are four state bills that Republicans have introduced. They would establish education savings accounts (ESAs), for students in all parts of the state.
DeVillier’s bill would allow education savings accounts for the families of children who have tried to transfer from low-performing public schools, students with one or more parents in the military or those in foster care.
It is House Bill 33.
State Reps. Mark Wright (R-Covington) and Rhonda Butler (R-Ville Platte), have submitted proposals to allow special-needs children accounts.
They are House Bill 227 and House Bill 194 respectively.
Rep. Barbara Freiberg, R-Baton Rouge, has filed an education savings account measure – House Bill 452 – that would apply to children who have been targeted for bullying.
Sen. Sharon Hewitt, R-Slidell, wants to allow the accounts for children who are reading below grade level – Senate Bill 203.
These are all good ideas. There is reportedly another bill to be filed that would cover all students in the state – totaling around 700,000 – that would be a dramatic reform of how education is funded in the state.
I would very much expect the unions to be opposed to all of these measures outright, and Louisiana’s lone statewide elected Democrat, John Bel Edwards, has been in their pocket from the start. When he hasn’t been offering up meager pay raises to teachers while the rest of the region offers up substantive pay increases for them, he has vetoed or had had minions in the legislature kill any meaningful education reform bills proposed in past years.
However, this year could prove to be different. Although a bill offering ESAs for all students might not pass, four other proposals could be supported by both parties.
H.B. 33, H.B. 194, H.B. H.B. 227 could have a significant impact on students of colour and would help get them out from schools where they are often underperforming and into better schools. It brings together many members of the Legislative Black Caucus, the state legislature’s black Caucus. This allows them to get more involved in their communities and work for their constituents.
So, three of the four (or potentially five) bills on the table can get bipartisan support and buck the teachers’ unions. This bill would be more powerful for parents, and allow students to have greater control over schools and districts that may suffer from poor scores.
There are two other ideas we’d need to see to make this work, however. First, a bill would give students living within certain boundaries of their parish borders the opportunity to attend school in another district. All options should be available to them. If the school is not in a designated area (such as magnet schools) or for families with currently employed teachers, the option of moving to another district is available.
One is a bill, or proposal to increase transportation funding. Some districts are struggling to find drivers and while in bigger cities you can partner with public transportation, in smaller communities you can’t. Some children may be too far away for their parents to transport them to better schools. If a school is near your neighborhood and you can walk there, that’s what you do. However, what happens if the school is far from your home and you don’t have a way to travel there? Finding and financing bus drivers and buses is not an easy task. However, you will need to design new routes in order to meet enrollment changes. Additional funding would be a great help.
Now, there’s another reason why black Democrats in the legislature would want to jump on this. This not only benefits their local communities, but it also helps them in their state political endeavors. They look around at their constituents and communities right now and notice that the white Democrats they have been running the party for many decades are not keeping their word when it comes down to working together. While they have kept their power, they have neglected black communities. That’s something that can bring the conservatives looking for education reform to the table with black Democrats and ensure a veto-proof majority.
This would make it a great situation for families and students as the legislature opens its session in a month.
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