Stephanie Simon
Reuters
6/1/2012
Louisiana is embarking on the nation’s boldest experiment in privatizing public education, with the state preparing to shift tens of millions in tax dollars out of the public schools to pay private industry, businesses owners and church pastors to educate children.
Starting this fall, thousands of poor and middle-class kids will get vouchers covering the full cost of tuition at more than 120 private schools across Louisiana, including small, Bible-based church schools.
The following year, students of any income will be eligible for mini-vouchers that they can use to pay a range of private-sector vendors for classes and apprenticeships not offered in traditional public schools. The money can go to industry trade groups, businesses, online schools and tutors, among others.
Every time a student receives a voucher of either type, his local public school will lose a chunk of state funding.
“We are changing the way we deliver education,” said Governor Bobby Jindal, a Republican who muscled the plan through the legislature this spring over fierce objections from Democrats and teachers unions. “We are letting parents decide what’s best for their children, not government.”…
The article continues at Reuters.
Related: North Carolina parents poised to regain control of kids’ school lunches
The ”chicken nugget” bill was passed unanimously by the North Carolina Senate Thursday and will likely sail through the state House in a bid to return to parents the authority to pack their children’s lunch boxes with whatever food they choose.
The story of a four-year-old given school cafeteria chicken nuggets instead of her homemade turkey sandwich brought national attention earlier this year to a law that let nutrition guidelines undermine parents’ preferences…
