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Private Schools Losing Students Across Louisiana

Gerald Bernard
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The Louisiana school voucher system, called the Louisiana Scholarship Program, is growing — NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune reports about 12,000 students applied to use vouchers next school year.

Those vouchers allow students to attend some private schools, at taxpayer expense. The program has been under review by federal officials, who recently said the statemust report the race of voucher participants. Despite vouchers, overall private school enrollment is down in Louisiana.

Danielle Dreilinger  of NOLA.com | The Times Picayunelooked into the numbers. Among the steepest drops: private school enrollment in the ten parishes around New Orleans and Baton Rouge saw a drop of 17 percent, and Roman Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of New Orleans fell 25 percent.

Support for education reporting on WWNO comes from Baptist Community Ministries, Entergy, The Hechinger Report, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.