<p>As a public school teacher in Louisiana, I despise what our governor is doing to our school system. </p>
<p>I’ve been teaching 14 years. Over the past several years, money has dwindled yet our expectations are sometimes unattainable. There’s no money for programs that we have to implement and when they are brought in, they are so without proper supplies. </p>
<p>Governor Jindal (who wants to be President Jindal) is creating a monster. If you access the website for schools that will accept vouchers, MANY well-known schools are NOT. Shreveport/Bossier is the 2nd largest city in the state. Bossier is it’s own city but across the Red River from Shreveport. There are THREE schools in that area that will accept vouchers for a total of 88 slots. 80 of them are at one school - Evangel - a school known for its athletic programs and giving scholarships to underprivileged students who are excellent athletes. The other 2 schools each are accepting 4 students. The northern half of the state has very little voucher slots - most are in the southern half - where Baton Rouge and New Orleans is located. If you research the site, you find many of the schools are the small, Christian schools that are VERY limited in scope. No testing is required of these voucher students to even see if the education is better than their public home school. </p>
<p>And I wonder why I am letting my 6th grade daughter entertain the idea of Miss Porters, Miss Halls or Emma Willard? It’s because I want more for my children than this state provides. Throwing massive amounts of money into private schools, where some don’t have high standards, isn’t the answer.</p>