Tuition Tax Credits Survive Louisiana School Choice Ruling

Many students can still escape the government schools

The Louisiana Supreme Court struck down Louisiana's nascent school voucher program today. There were about 5,000 LA students already receiving vouchers and about 8,000 were approved to receive vouchers in the next school year. The court ruled that once public funds are allocated to the state's Minimum Foundation Program (MFP), the constitution prohibits reallocating those funds for other purposes.

Fortunately, there is another school choice program that rests on much firmer constitutional ground. Louisiana's scholarship tax credit program avoids the voucher program's constitutional troubles because its funds never enter the MFP. Indeed, they actually never enter the state treasury at all. Instead, taxpayers receive a credit for donations to nonprofit "school tuition organizations" that fund low-income students attending the schools of their choice. The program gives priority to students living in districts with failing government schools.