Louisiana has launched its first Education Savings Account (ESA) program, known as the “Giving All True Opportunity to Rise” (GATOR) Scholarship Program. Louisiana has thus become the 11th state in the country to pass a universal school choice program. This legislation was signed into law by Gov. Jeff Landry to allow K-12 students to access funds for educational expenses, including private school tuition. The GATOR program, which is set to begin in August 2025, is designed to empower parents and students by providing financial resources for a variety of educational needs. The funds can be used for:

  • Private school tuition
  • Hiring instructors or tutors
  • Enrolling in online or virtual educational programs
  • Purchasing curriculum and other instructional materials
  • Building hybrid educational programs combining home-based education with part-time attendance at public or private schools
  • Designing an entirely home-based educational program

Unique Features of Louisiana’s Program

What sets Louisiana’s GATOR Scholarship Program apart is its universal accessibility. Unlike some states that limit eligibility based on income or specific educational needs, Louisiana’s program is open to all K-12 students, regardless of income. This inclusivity ensures that every family in the state has the opportunity to benefit from the program.

Moreover, the program’s flexibility in allowing funds to be used for a wide range of educational purposes—from private school tuition to home-based educational programs—mirrors successful elements from other states while adapting them to Louisiana’s specific needs. 

Impact of Educational Freedom in Louisiana

The program is expected to provide significant benefits, including:

  • Enhanced educational opportunities: Students from all backgrounds will have access to high-quality education tailored to their needs.
  • Increased parental control: Parents can choose the best educational setting for their children, ensuring a better fit for their unique learning styles and needs.
  • Potential for improved academic outcomes: With more options available, competition among schools could drive improvements in educational standards and outcomes in the state.

Comparisons with Other States

Louisiana’s GATOR program is part of a broader movement towards universal school choice across the nation. Currently, 10 other states have implemented similar programs, each with unique features and structures:

  • Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Utah: These states offer various forms of ESAs, vouchers, and tax-credit scholarships. This allows parents to choose the best educational options for their children.
  • Arizona and Florida: These states are pioneers in school choice. They implemented their programs in 2006 and 1996 respectively. These states have extensive ESA programs that provide parents with significant flexibility in using the funds for a wide range of educational expenses.

Understanding School Choice

School choice refers to a range of programs and policies that enable families to use public money to select educational options beyond their assigned neighborhood public schools. This allows parents to choose the best educational environment for their children, whether that be a public, private or homeschool setting. School choice can take several forms across the nation, including open enrollment, Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), and vouchers. 

Open Enrollment: This allows families to enroll their children in public schools outside of their designated school zones. This can occur within a district (intra-district) or across district lines (inter-district). The primary goal of open enrollment is to give families more options within the public school system, and to allow them to find schools that better meet their children’s needs.

Education Savings Accounts (ESAs): These are state-funded accounts that parents can use for a variety of educational expenses, including private school tuition, online learning programs, tutoring, and even higher education costs. These accounts provide flexibility and can be tailored to the specific educational needs of each child.

Vouchers: Voucher programs often target low-income families and allow them to use public funds to pay for private school tuition. These programs are designed to provide access to education that families might otherwise be unable to afford. Currently, 16 states and Washington, D.C. offer some version of a voucher program. The specifics of these programs, including income eligibility and the amount of funding provided, vary by state.

Motivations Behind School Choice

The push for school choice has gained significant momentum in recent years. It is primarily driven by parents who were frustrated with pandemic-era policies and curriculum battles over race, gender, and sexuality. The prolonged school closures and remote learning challenges during the pandemic led to a decline in parental satisfaction with public schools. Many parents were disappointed by the public education system’s inability to maintain contact with students and the resistance from teacher unions to return to in-person learning. According to Jonathan Butcher, an education policy analyst for the Heritage Foundation, “Public schools lost track of tens of thousands of kids. And, in some places … the unions were able to keep those schools closed to in-person learning even when district officials were saying they wanted teachers to come back for in-person learning.” 

These frustrations have encouraged long-time school choice advocates who argue that families should have the option to use public funds for education, homeschooling, or other educational expenses. The pandemic highlighted the need for more flexible educational options, and has led to a rise in school choice legislation across the country. Many states have introduced or expanded voucher programs and Education Savings Accounts to provide families with greater control over their children’s education. This has allowed families to select environments that best suit their children’s needs and address their concerns with the current public school system.

Benefits of School Choice

School choice offers several key benefits for families and students.

To begin, it improves student safety by allowing families to select schools in safer environments. This helps to reduce exposure to violence and bullying. Research from Milwaukee shows that students in school choice programs are less likely to commit felonies and misdemeanors. Additionally, school choice increases parental satisfaction and involvement, as evidenced by high satisfaction rates in states like Arizona and greater parental engagement in programs like the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship.

Also, school choice enables personalized education tailored to individual student needs through tools like education savings accounts. These accounts empower parents to design customized educational plans, especially for students with special needs, as seen in Arizona. 

Further, school choice leads to higher graduation rates, with programs like the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship showing a significant increase in graduation rates. It encourages competition that improves overall school quality and fosters accountability by giving parents the power to choose and direct their children’s educational funds.

School Choice in Maine

In Maine, the primary school choice option available to students is through the town tuitioning program. It was established in 1873 and is the second oldest school choice program in the nation. This program allows students from towns that do not have a public school at their grade level to attend either a public school in another town or a private school. However, this option does not cover all students. Students must live in towns without public schools for their grade level. This makes the program very restrictive–less than 5% of Maine students are eligible to participate.

In addition, the town tuitioning program provides vouchers that cover up to 78% of the per-student spending at public schools, with maximum values of $10,477 for K–8 students and $13,268 for high school students. However, the program’s reach is limited by its geographic constraints and does not include all students across the state. Critics suggest that expanding eligibility and converting the program into an education savings account would broaden access and enhance educational opportunities for more Maine students.

Path Forward for Maine

Maine should seriously consider enacting a more comprehensive universal school choice program to better serve its families and students. By modeling its approach on successful programs adopted by other states, Maine could develop a robust system that offers increased flexibility and choice. 

Maine should expand the existing town tuitioning program to include all students rather than just those who reside in towns that do not operate a public school at their grade level. This would significantly broaden the reach of town tuitioning and allow more families to select educational options tailored to their children’s needs.

Another workable option for Maine is to implement ESAs. This would further enhance educational opportunities in the state by providing families with the financial resources needed to access a range of schooling options. ESAs would empower parents to customize their children’s education, whether through private schools, public schools or other educational resources. 

Such reforms would not only expand access but also foster a more dynamic and responsive education system in Maine.

Conclusion

Louisiana joining the growing number of states which have embraced universal school choice signals a significant shift in the educational landscape. By providing families with the freedom to choose the best educational setting for their children, these programs aim to improve educational outcomes, increase satisfaction and foster innovation. For Maine, expanding school choice options will ensure that every student has access to a high-quality education, regardless of their zip code or economic status.

Afua Kwarteng is a graduate student at the University of Maine pursuing a dual MBA and Global Policy degree. She graduated from the University of Ghana with a BA in Political Science and Swahili. She is passionate about state and international policy and is serving as Maine Policy Institute’s 2024 communications intern.