BATON ROUGE (AP) — State Superintendent of Education John White says the state has received nearly 12,000 applications for state-funded private school tuition.

That’s up from 10,000 last year, the first year the voucher program was statewide.

Increased interest comes despite a judge’s ruling that the voucher program as currently funded violates the state constitution. A state Supreme Court ruling in that case is pending.

The taxpayer-financed tuition at private and parochial schools is available to students from low- to moderate-income families who otherwise would attend public schools graded with a C, D or F by the state. Priority is for students in D- and F-rated schools.

White says 134 schools likely will participate in the program, up from 118 currently. He says the first round of student assignments will be made in mid-April.

(mgnonline.com)