As promised, Governor Jeff Landry signed a bill that will allow parents to apply for and receive state funding to send their children to private and parochial schools.
The GATOR Scholarship Program is set to begin in the 2024-25 school year. The voucher program will allow Louisiana families to apply for and receive state funds to send their children to private, parochial, and home schools. That money may also be used to purchase books and other supplies needed to attend those schools. Lawmakers watered down the bill to phase it into existence more slowly. It's not clear if or when all parents will be able to access the program.
During a signing ceremony in Lafayette Wednesday morning, Landry and the bill's supporters claimed that the new law will provide a much-needed boost to education in the state.
"This bill will establish the education scholarship that this state so desperately need," Landry said while flanked by lawmakers, lobbyists, educators, and more than a dozen school students.
Landry says this law marks a turning point for the state's parents, whom he says will now have a chance to control their tax dollars while giving their children quality educations.
"I think that this is a responsible bill that first starts with parents (and) with children who have special needs," Landry said. "We (will) work our way up the income ladder, and eventually this program will be accepted by every parent in this state (who) will have every opportunity if they want to send their child to a school outside of the public school in their district."
Landry says the GATOR Program and the other education reforms signed into law today are just the start of a wholesale change to Louisiana's education system.
"We still have a lot to do, but I tell people: don't worry. We're still in the first quarter."
That bill was one of several education bills Landry signed while in Lafayette. Landry also signed into law measures to reduce mandates for teachers, changing the state's grading system to a 10-point system, and requiring public school teachers to display the Ten Commandments in their classrooms.
Landry got biblical when defending the new Ten Commandments law.
"If you want to respect the rule of law, you have to respect the original law giver, Moses," Landry said.
Landry also said if Moses's image can be displayed in the United States Capitol, then the Ten Commandments are appropriate in classrooms.
"There are faces of people that have made contributions to Western civilization, and all of those faces are half-faced except for one," Landry said. "There is one face under which you see the full face of the person, and that person's face sits dead center above where the speaker sits. You want to guess who that is? Moses."
On Tuesday, Landry said he welcomed any possible challenge to this new law, foreshadowing lawsuits claiming the law violates the First Amendment's establishment clause. In the meantime, the bill's sponsor, Rep. Dodie Horton (R-Haughton), praised Landry's decision while throwing shade at his predecessor, former Governor John Bel Edwards.
"What a great day it is for Louisiana to have a governor who supports traditional values, our values . . . ," Horton said. "I just can't thank you enough, Governor. After serving eight years prior to you, it's like hope is in the air everywhere."
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