Louisiana Forestry Association : Budget would cut state subsidies to private schools

Budget would cut state subsidies to private schools

By Devon Sanders
LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE - The governor's new budget would eliminate subsidized lunches and other reimbursements to private schools, state Superintendent of Education John White said Tuesday.

The changes would save $20 million, White said.

He said the state had already reduced reimbursements over the past three years to private schools for supplying data and reports on attendance, safety, teacher certification and other education-related matters. He said the new budget would drop them entirely.

Edwards proposed roughly $1 billion in spending cuts, especially in higher education and health care, as he waits to see whether he and the Legislature can resolve a projected shortfall in state revenue.

Edwards said he did not want to see most of the cuts take effect, but that he was required to propose a budget that would match current spending projections. Edwards also said on Monday that public K-12 education would basically be spared cuts.

White said Tuesday that Edwards' budget would increase the Minimum Foundation Program, the financial aid that Louisiana provides local public-school districts per student, by nearly $2.5 million. White explained, however, that this is merely 'a drop in the bucket' in terms of what is needed and does not account for any growth in students.

Given that some growth in students attending Louisiana schools is expected, the $2.5 million increase would still likely result in an overall decrease in funding per student for school districts.

White also reported that funding for the LA4 program, Louisiana's largest pre-kindergarten program, will remain consistent with the proposed budget.

White made his comments at a meeting of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education Administration and Finance Committee.

Like the governor, White also contended that the budget was 'far from anything final.'

Edwards has been talking to Republican leaders about possible revenue-raising measures and will call a special session of the Legislature in February if it looks like he and lawmakers could reach an agreement on those.

If there is no special session, the Legislature would have to decide on what cuts to make in a regular session beginning in March. Any cuts would not take effect before July, when the state's fiscal year begins. The Legislature also could call a special session in June in a last-ditch effort to raise revenue and reduce the need for cuts.