Louisiana voters reject education swamp, support education freedom

National education policy advisor Corey DeAngelis, a self-described “school choice evangelist,” recently tweeted the election results from Louisiana Senate District 13, which pitted two Republican state representatives from Livingston Parish against one another. 

What was the defining election issue that captured Mr. DeAngelis’ attention and drove 65 percent of voters to support Rep. Valarie Hodges over Rep. Buddy Mincey in that race: education freedom.

Indeed. While Mr. DeAngelis is not from Louisiana, it does appear he understands Louisiana voters—perhaps better than Rep. Mincey did anyway.

Rep. Mincey was among a small group of Republicans who voted against a bill last legislative session that would have empowered parents and expanded education freedom for all students in Louisiana. In fact, he was unapologetic about his opposition to the legislation and even offered an amendment that would have gutted the bill before he voted against it.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, he took this fight from the Capitol to his social media page. He went on Facebook bragging for months about his vote to stand with education swamp leaders in Livingston and deny parents the freedom to decide what’s best for their children’s education. 

“I have been advocating for and protecting our school system for the last 17 years…”

“As your Senator, I will continue to oppose all educational reform…”

— Rep. Buddy Mincey, Jr.

Less than five months later, that decision would come back to haunt him in the form of campaign mailers and aggressive ads that ultimately cost him the election.

In stark contrast to Rep. Mincey’s loss in Louisiana Senate District 13, Governor-elect Jeff Landry, who made a strong argument for education freedom in his campaign, took nearly 52% of the vote last Saturday in a crowded primary field that included more than a dozen candidates. 

As DeAngelis noted in a recent Wall Street Journal column, Gov-elect Landry supported school choice long before the movement gained widespread support in the aftermath of COVID. Way back in 2010, when he was campaigning to represent Louisiana’s 3rd Congressional District, Landry said, “We need to adopt policies that empower parents to make decisions about their own child’s education—including home school, charter schools, church-based schools, and other alternatives.”

Even though the issue has not received much local media attention, it is clear the school choice wave sweeping across America has finally reached Louisiana—and boy has it landed in a big way!

A rolling 12-month public opinion tracker published by the national public policy think tank edChoice found that 68% of all adults surveyed in Louisiana and 75% of school parents the concept of education savings accounts. Similarly, another poll conducted by Cor Strategies in October 2023 found that 62% of the voters surveyed support giving Louisiana parents the ability to use state funds to select the school of their choice for their child’s education.

Often referred to as ESAs, these government-authorized savings accounts enable parents to access and use these dedicated funds to pay for education expenses such as school tuition, tutoring, online education programs, therapies for students with special needs textbooks or other instructional materials, or save for future college expenses. Based on the fundamental principle that all kids are different and have different education needs, ESAs empower parents to decide what’s best for their children.

Few issues in politics are clear-cut, but it’s increasingly obvious that school choice is one of them. Why? Simply put, parents are fed up. Test scores are down. Absenteeism and dropouts are up. And the pandemic only made matters worse. It is clear our “one-size-fits-all” education system is not working for everyone. From bullying and safety issues to special needs to academic curricula to athletic programs, there’s a myriad of factors that parents must consider when choosing a learning environment to best fit their child. 

Indeed. All parents deserve the right to choose the academic environment that works best for their kids.  And it is long past time that Louisiana leaders advance education freedom policies to give it to them!