By Victor Skinner
EAGnews.org

BATON ROUGE, La. – A recent ploy by the Louisiana Association of Educators to intimidate private and parochial schools from participating in the state’s new voucher program was a miserable failure, despite the union’s claims to the contrary.

The LAE last week sent a letter to 119 private schools set to accept transfer students from public schools under Louisiana’s recently enacted voucher program, threatening them with lawsuits if they do. The union provided forms for the schools to send to the state, indicating they will not participate in the program until legal questions are resolved.

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The union letter came after a Louisiana judge rejected the LAE’s attempt to block the program’s scheduled launch this fall while it challenges the constitutionality of vouchers.

This week, the LAE claimed that two private schools have agreed not to use state voucher money until the union’s legal challenge is resolved, but LAE attorney Brian Blackwell refused to identify the schools, according to theAdvocate.com.

“In light of this being an ongoing matter, I would prefer not to comment on the identity of the schools involved,” Blackwell wrote in an email to the news site.

So out of 119 private schools threatened by the union, two have supposedly complied.

Interestingly, state Superintendent of Education John White said, “The department has not received notification from any participating school indicating this form of intimidation has caused them to reconsider their participation.”

Hosanna Christian Academy Administrator Josh LeSage told the Advocate that the value of the voucher program – which would bring 299 students to his school – outweighs the financial problems that could result if the union lawsuit is successful and schools have to return voucher money to the state.

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Superintendent White announced recently that the state has authorized about 5,600 vouchers, and another 1,000 students could be approved if there are enough available seats in participating schools.

The new voucher program allows students who meet income requirements and attend public schools rated C, D, or F by the state to secure a voucher to pay for tuition and mandatory fees at private schools.

In response to the LAE’s legal intimidation tactic, the national Alliance for School Choice has hired a New Orleans attorney to defend schools targeted with a union lawsuit for participating in the voucher program, the Advocate reports.

“Louisiana Defense Fund is a message to schools across the state that reformers will stand up in the face of intimidation tactics from special interest groups,” Kevin Chavous, an advisor to the Alliance, said in a press release.

A hearing on the LAE’s lawsuit to challenge the voucher program is set for October, the Advocate reports.