BATON ROUGE — Two Southwest Louisiana education officials were on opposite sides Tuesday during debate on a legislative bill designed to restrict the ability of charter schools to locate in some parishes.

Rep. John Bel Edwards, D-Amite, in House Bill 21 wanted to prohibit the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education from approving charter schools in school districts with A and B ratings. The House Education Committee voted 10-6 to reject the bill.

The committee also voted 10-5 to kill H.B. 340, by Edwards. It would have provided that kindergarten students could only get education vouchers if they would have attended a D- or F-rated school.

The state pays tuition for students to attend private schools under the Student Scholarship for Educational Excellence Program.

Opponents of expanding the vouchers said state dollars are scarce and a number of school systems are already providing a good education for those students. Voucher supporters said the opportunity to receive them should be retained for all kindergarten students.

Edwards said his goal in trying to prohibit charters from opening in A or B districts was to give more autonomy to school districts that are performing well. Charter schools in those districts alter financing and curtail programs because they get money intended for public schools, he said.

The bill is about local control and democracy, Edwards said. “We don’t have a lot of rogue school board members,” he said.

Nothing would change for school districts rated C, D or F, he said. He said charters could still take over failing schools in any district.

Brian LeJeune, superintendent of Jeff Davis Parish schools, was among a number of superintendents who supported H.B. 21. He said his district was two points from receiving an A rating and is meeting the needs of its students.

Under the current system, charters go to local school boards first. If they are denied a charter, they can go to BESE for approval.

“Parents like coming to us,” LeJeune said. He said parents can replace local school board members when they don’t perform as expected.

Michael Deshotel, who said he had 49 years in education, talked about being a parent, grandparent and taxpayer in Zachary. He called his school district the highest-performing district in the state. 

New schools have been built in Zachary, he said, and taxpayers are paying for what they want. He said that doesn’t include charters that come in without their consent.

Gene Thibodeaux of Lake Charles spoke in opposition to the Edwards bill. He is president of the nonprofit boards that govern three charter schools in Lake Charles. Charter Schools USA is the management company for the schools.

Thibodeaux said equal educational opportunity is what charter schools are about. He said there are 1,820 students in the three schools, and two of the schools are rated in the top 10 percent. 

“The schools we have are performing,” he said.

Calcasieu Parish is rated a B district, but 22 percent of its schools are rated D or F, Thibodeaux said. They are in a radius of five miles around the charters, he said.

“Our kids are zoned for our schools,” he said.

Rep. Nancy Landry, R-Lafayette, was a major opponent of the legislation. She said parents want charters, which are repeatedly denied by local school boards.

Landry said her district is rated B, but has D and F schools. She said there are long waiting lists for charter schools in her parish. A spokesman for one of those schools said 800 families are on one of the waiting lists.

Brigitte Nieland with the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry spoke against the bill. She said there is nothing more local than the right of parents to choose a school for their child.

The legislation would deny that opportunity to 155,000 students, she said.

Stafford Palmieri, Gov. Bobby Jindal’s assistant chief of staff, also spoke against the bill.

John White, state superintendent of education, said BESE rarely approves charters in A and B school districts. He said it happened zero times during the current school year.

Louisiana Legislature

MSgt Toby M. Valadie