Cost of Choice Investigation

Cost of Choice: State Department of Education possibly breaking rules set up for voucher schools

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.

The Cost of Choice: Governor to push for changes to Louisiana Scholarship Program

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.

The Cost of Choice: Education board member says voucher system ‘working very well’ but needs improvement

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.

Staff, parents protest early childhood grant pulled from school following ‘Cost of Choice’ reports

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.

The Cost of Choice: As New Orleans’ Catholic school enrollment fell, state vouchers came to the rescue

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.

The Cost of Choice: Lax application process, holes in transparency in state scholarship program

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.

The Cost of Choice: Family-run school sanctioned by state, receives millions in scholarship dollars

Public money has flowed into one New Orleans voucher school despite low student scores, allegations of cheating and nepotism concerns.

KNOW THE SCORE: Grades of schools in the Louisiana Scholarship Program

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.

The Cost of Choice: Louisiana’s voucher program costs millions more to send children to lower-performing schools

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.