Department of Justice fighting… to keep poor kids in bad Louisiana schools.

The specter of Woodrow Wilson* looms over this administration, and it will not be denied.

Of course they are.

The U.S. Justice Department is suing Louisiana in New Orleans federal court to block 2014-15 vouchers for students in public school systems that are under federal desegregation orders. The first year of private school vouchers “impeded the desegregation process,” the federal government says.

Thirty-four school systems could be affected, including those of Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. John the Baptist and St. Tammany parishes. Under the lawsuit, the state would be barred from assigning students in those systems to private schools unless a federal judge agreed to it. A court hearing is tentatively set for Sept. 19.

The statewide voucher program, officially called the Louisiana Scholarship Program, lets low-income students in public schools graded C, D or F attend private schools at taxpayer expense. This year, 22 of the 34 systems under desegregation orders are sending some students to private schools on vouchers.

Continue reading Department of Justice fighting… to keep poor kids in bad Louisiana schools.

House GOP desegregates DC school system.

Teachers’ unions, racists, Dick Durbin hardest hit:

The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program — which provides low-income District students with federal money to attend private schools — is a top priority of Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). The program was closed to new entrants by Democrats in 2009, but Boehner has sought to revive and expand the program. The House passed a Boehner-authored bill last month — the SOAR Act — to reauthorize the program for five more years, and that bill will be included in the final spending deal and signed into law by Obama.

More background here.  The administration was surprisingly unequivocal in its opposition to “the creation or expansion of private school voucher programs that are authorized by this bill,” probably because poor minority kids don’t contribute to Democratic slush funds to the extent that the NEA does.  Killing the DC voucher program has been a priority for Democrats since they took full control of the government in 2009; watching the President sign it back into law is going to be one of the more satisfying things that I* will personally see next week.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

*Not to mention the Heritage Foundation, which has been fighting this one tooth and nail, and in the streets, all along.

Democrats finally kill DC minority school program.

The Hell of it is, Dick Durbin’s probably proud of himself right now.

[UPDATE]: I am, of course, remiss in not pointing this story out from last week.

(Via AoSHQ) I got some critical – and instantly sent to spam – commentary after I posted this and this on the pending death of the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program.  While I’m sure that the writers of said spam were of course very incensed at my posts, I am forced to admit that I was wrong about something about them: I was working under the assumption that publicity would at least keep this program alive. Particularly since the private school that the Obamas themselves send their kids to has students that would be affected by this program.

Silly me.  What’s a bunch of African-American kids, versus the teachers’ union?  Especially in this administration? Continue reading Democrats finally kill DC minority school program.