DEMOCRATS VS KIDS:

The voucher program Louisiana is slated to employ is much broader than other states. The vouchers, worth up to $8,800 annually, will be offered to students of families making under $60,000 and who are currently enrolled in a public school in which at least 25 percent of students test below grade level. So far, about 6,000 students have applied to the approximately 5,000 slots currently available in the approved private schools across the state, according to The Shreveport Times.

The following school year, however, will see the implementation of "mini-vouchers," in which all students at the aforementioned schools, regardless of their family's income, will be eligible for a $1,300 stipend to pay for private-school classes and apprenticeships. The voucher system would thus open up to nearly half of the state's public school students. Since the public schools will lose commensurate funding every time one of their students opt for a voucher, the state's public school system could by some estimates lose up to $3.3 billion annually once the program is fully implemented.

With 70.9 percent of its students receiving high school degrees, Louisiana has one of the lowest graduation rates in the country.

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