Voucher Deadline Application Approaches|Southern Education Desk 6-28-2012

Religious School in West Monroe Offers Voucher Spots

Parents are jockeying to take advantage of the program, and, schools – including religious schools - have been promoting the program at the government’s request.

 

Pre-kindergarten children play at the private Prevailing Faith Christian Academy in Monroe.

The school is poised to add as many as 26 students who qualify for state funded vouchers.

Sabrina Washington is filling out applications in hopes of placing three of her children at the academy.

 

“I like the curriculum. It’s a really good school. I’m glad that I have the choice now to put my children where they can get a Christian education. I think that’s very important.”

 

Washington says that the private school setting will offer a major improvement to the D – minus rated public school her children most recently attended.

 

“Well it’s very important because I get the opportunity to take my children out of the environment of crime, violence, teenage pregnancy, drugs. And I get to put them in a better environment where they’re surrounded by Christian teachers and stuff like that.” 

 

 

Prevailing Faith’s director, Patsy Brown, says the run-up to the scholarship application process involved some specific public relations maneuvers. Brown says government officials have emphasized promotion of publicly funded private schools.

 

“Well they were just asking us to inform the community. Plus, we did go out – they sent a marketing team here – and we were in the mall where we were passing out brochures and information to inform the public about what the scholarship-funded programs are all about.”

 

Louisiana Superintendent of Education, John White, confirmed in an email that the state has pushed recruitment through school channels. He says the department encourages schools to“share information about what they do.”

 

Anita Watson is the principal of North East Baptist School in West Monroe. She says state officials prevailed upon her school to promote the voucher program, as well.

 

“And so one of the things that we did was send out letters to all the pastors on our mailing list, which would be the Baptist pastors. And let them know that we’re participating in a program, saying ‘if you know anyone who is in your congregation who has children who you think would want a Christian education, now’s a great time to see if they would qualify or be able to come to this school’.”

 

The promotions appear to have accomplished their goal. Superintendent White says that more than 7000 applications have now been submitted – close to the 7500 voucher seats available in 125 schools statewide.

 

 

But the program does not enjoy universal approval. State Representative, Katrina Jackson, voted against the vouchers. She also opposes using government resources to advertise them.

“You are constantly putting limited state funds in a pool to help about five percent of students when we still have to educate – not successfully – 95 percent of students.”

 

Further, Jackson says she found out the week of June 25 that the vouchers were being advertised.

 

 “We’ve essentially cut everywhere we had to and where we could. And when we looked at the fiscal note for this bill, the one thing that wasn’t factored in was this additional money to promote this voucher program.”

 

Jackson says she is making inquiries to find out whether public resources have been devoted to advertising the vouchers.

 

There may not be enough new seats to meet the demand. if the number of voucher applications exceeds availability at a popular school, students will gain access to desks through what the Department of Education calls “an unbiased lottery process.”

 

Sabrina Washington is preparing for this outcome.

 

“I have chosen three schools. They kind of give you a choice – you can put first, second and third. This is my first choice, but I do have a second and third choice as well.”