Louisiana legislators grilled Commissioner of Education John White about the state’s decision to approve the largest number of voucher students (315) for a small religious school that lacked facilities or teachers. Many questions were raised about the state’s failure to do any site visits to ascertain the readiness of the school to accept new students. Questions were raised about the school’s tuition, which is less than what the state plans to pay out (and may be very much less, making the voucher program a windfall for the school).

White must have been embarrassed because he immediately started backtracking and claimed that the list of schools approved by the state was not really final (news to everyone) and that the state planned to do due diligence.

The school plans to build a new facility during the summer and be ready to welcome its 315 new students this fall.

Nothing was said about the quality of the education that the new voucher schools would provide.

I keep wondering why smart people like Bobby Jindal and John White think that children in Louisiana will get a better education if they get public money to go to any private or religious school that wants them, regardless of their program, their curriculum, their teachers, or their record.

Since Mitt Romney wants the Jindal plan to go national, this story matters a lot.

Diane