The ESA proposed bill is our local Republicans' latest attempt to decimate public education by starving it of nutrients. It might be worth noting, because some seem to have forgotten, the law does not suggest a free public education for all K-12 students. It mandates it. This is because education affects virtually every aspect of a community used to measure how valuable or enjoyable it is. Crime, health care, public safety and delivery of public services all refect the education level of a community. So does service at your favorite local restaurant.
Redirecting tax monies from public education to church coffers is unconstitutional. I've seen all kinds of hot takes about cost and benefits of such a program. No one is really explaining how hundreds of millions in budget shortfalls will be covered. Imagine if instead of instituting ESAs, we simply added those monies to public schools.
ESA monies going to primarily parochial schools in Louisiana would be alarming for most of us who value separation of church and state. Will churches begin paying property tax as they become the recipients of our tax payments?
There is one question everyone in the community should consider which I've not seen discussed. The kids who would end up trapped in the public system and receiving high school diplomas in it — those children excluded by private and parochials, those children with the more-costly-than-average educational needs — won't disappear when we disregard them. They will be the underpaid and overworked employees in hospitals and nursing homes caring for Baby Boomers and Gen X in a few short years. Would we like them to be educated?
JEANIE FREDERIC
Baton Rouge