By Ben Velderman
EAGnews.org
    
BATON ROUGE – Louisiana’s new voucher law is proving to be a hit with parents whose children are currently stuck in a failing school district. Thousands of Louisiana families have already applied for a school voucher, which would allow students to attend the private or religious school of their choice beginning in the fall.
    
But those plans might come to a screeching halt if the state’s teachers union gets its way.
    
On Thursday, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers asked a district judge for an immediate injunction to stop the voucher program in its tracks.

The union also filed two lawsuits to permanently overturn the state’s two new education laws, Act 1 and 2.
    
Act 1 deals with a variety of reforms, including “changing tenure laws, establishing new hiring and firing policies, removing a statewide salary schedule,” among other things, reports ShrevePortTimes.com.
    
“Act 2 creates a statewide voucher program paying tuition and fees to private and religious schools …,” the news site reports.    
    
In its lawsuit against Act 1, the LFT argues that lawmakers violated a “constitutional provision that every piece of legislation filed must be ‘confined to one object,’” reports ShrevePortTimes.com.  
    
The union’s second lawsuit argues that the new voucher plan violates Louisiana’s Constitution by providing public funds to private and church-run schools, the news site reports.
    
Voucher supporters are confident the plan passes constitutional muster.
    
The lawsuits were not unexpected. Reformers knew the teachers union would use any tool at its disposal to undo Louisiana’s education reforms, which are some of the most groundbreaking in the nation.
    
Since every piece of significant legislation ends up being challenged in court, reformers were prepared for the fight.
    
The concern is that a union-friendly judge will put the voucher program on ice until the lawsuits are settled.
    
That would be tragic. A court injunction would not only keep many Louisiana students trapped in failing and ineffective schools for another year (or more), but it would give the LFT time to help elect a bunch of union-friendly politicians who could conceivably roll back the reforms before they’re allowed to take effect.
    
“These reforms have the power to transform public education in Louisiana,” said Barry Erwin, president of the Council for a Better Louisiana. “It is disheartening that a teacher union would choose to sue the state to undo the reforms before they even have the chance to begin helping the hundreds of thousands of students who so desperately need a quality education.”