nonpublic;schools. 12;And;that;wasn’t;the
only challenge to Louisiana’s voucher
programs;in;2013.
Under the leadership of Governor
Bobby;Jindal,;Louisiana;has;become;one
of;the;most;progressive;states;on;the;issue
of;school;vouchers.;That;has;caught;the;at-tention;of;President;Obama’s;DoJ,;which
joined;in;on;an;attack;against;Louisiana’s
Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence
voucher;program.;The;DoJ;is;con-cerned;that;the;voucher;program;might
interfere;with;school;desegregation;orders
still;in;effect;to;monitor;activity;in;Louisi-ana,;based;on;past;segregation;in;the;state.
The;fear;from;DoJ;is;that;the;voucher;pro-gram;could;negatively;impact;desegrega-tion;by;enabling;parents;of;white;students
to;remove;their;children;from;traditional-ly;black;schools,;thus;leading;back;to;seg-regated;schooling.;The;DoJ;would;like;the
court;to;amend;any;existing;desegrega-tion;orders;“to;ensure;a;process;of;review
of;the;Voucher;Program;or;similar;ones
in;the;future.” 13;In;other;words,;Louisiana
would;need;federal;court;permission;to
give;out;vouchers.
With;that;case;still;ongoing;in;2014,;it
remains;to;be;seen;whether;it;will;have
much;impact;on;future;school;voucher
decisions;in;Louisiana.;All;in;all,;how-
ever,;2013;turned;out;to;be;a;banner;year
for school vouchers—a result that will
no doubt continue to encourage states
to;increase;their;experimentation;in;this
area—perhaps;even;an;expansion;of;more
benefits;to;homeschooling;families.
Antony B. Kolenc (J.D., University of Florida
College of Law) is an author, speaker, and
law professor at Florida Coastal School of
Law. He is also a retired U.S. Air Force officer.
He and his wife have homeschooled their five
children for over a decade. Tony is author of
The;Chronicles;of;Xan historical fiction trilogy, as well as many legal articles. Learn more
about him at www.antonykolenc.com. If you
have a law-related homeschooling question
that you would like to see Tony address in a
future column, please email TL@TheHome
schoolMagazine.com.
Endnotes
1.;See The ABC’s of School Choice,;2013;Ed.,;The
Friedman;Foundation;for;School;Choice
School-Choice---2013-edition.pdf) (outlining
the;various;plans;nationwide).
