HB98 would create the Sunshine Scholarship Program for K-12 students not enrolled in public school, providing state funding for qualified education expenses directly to parents through “a universal education freedom account.”
The House passed HB98 on May 16, 2023, by a vote of 61 to 37. We have assigned pluses to the nays because this bill, under the appealing but misleading guise of “school choice,” would effectively turn all schooling into government schooling by displacing traditional private and home education options. The so-called “scholarship program” it proposes actually threatens educational freedom since it would further entangle parents and religious organizations in an ever more intrusive system of state-approved curriculum controls, as a result of the various strings attached to taxpayer funding. Besides, education is not the role of government—it is the responsibility of a child’s parents. Forcing the citizens of Louisiana to furnish taxpayer money for a compulsory, failing, and government-run K-12 school system violates their individual liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.