The Louisiana Department of Education has allowed at least seven 'for-profit' schools into the state's scholarship program despite a rule saying that state and federal money cannot go to 'for-profit' schools.
Governor John Bel Edwards plans on pushing for more changes to the state’s program that allows children at poor-performing public schools to attend certain private schools on a voucher or scholarship.
By Lee Zurik, Kim Chatelain, Jess Clark and Cody Lillich
A member of the eleven-person board overseeing educational policies in Louisiana said he supports the scholarship system and says it is ‘working very well’ despite findings to the contrary in our recent Cost of Choice investigation.
By Lee Zurik, Kim Chatelain, Jess Clark and Cody Lillich
Teachers, students and parents from an early childhood program held signs in protest outside LSU Health New Orleans, opposing a decision to end a nearly million-dollar grant with the school.
By Lee Zurik, Kim Chatelain, Jess Clark and Cody Lillich
The largest participant in the Louisiana Scholarship Program, the New Orleans Archdiocese with 3,700 scholarship students, has more than half of the total students in the program.
By Lee Zurik, Kim Chatelain, Jess Clark and Cody Lillich
The Louisiana Scholarship Program allows schools to simply notify the state to participate in the program rather than a lengthy application process like public and charter schools face for approval.
Many parents said they are unaware of how their child's school performs in the Louisiana Scholarship Program. As a part of the joint investigation, The Cost of Choice, a searchable database is created containing all of the state's data on scholarship schools.
By Lee Zurik, Cody Lillich, Jess Clark and Kim Chatelain
A joint investigation found many students in the Louisiana Scholarship Program are going to lower performing schools, the opposite of what was touted during the program's launch in 2012.
