Louisiana's new voucher program gives $$ to religious "schools" without facilities or teachers

[SickOfTheOnePct]

42. Yes, both schools required that all students take religion classes and attend the weekly school Mass

Not like it was hidden from anyone - it's right there in the application, and the principals at both schools they attended spoke at length about the requirement at orientation. As we are Catholic, no big deal. Neither school discriminates on the basis of religion for admission purposes, and the K-8 school was particularly diverse - children from the full range of socio-economic and religious backgrounds, including one Jewish child, three Muslim children and a dozen or so from Protestant denominations.

But I've never heard of a voucher program that requires the student attend a Catholic school or even a religious school in order to use the voucher. Each parent that is utilizing a voucher to attend a religious school of any stripe needs to determine whether or not the better education they are seeking is worth the exposure their child will have to religious practices/values that may not match their own. If it isn't a trade off they are willing to make, then no one is forcing them to do so.

But if a parent does decide to send their child to a religious school, and they know upfront what the religious requirements are, then voucher or no voucher, they should expect to abide by those rules.

As I've already said, I support elimination of all vouchers, but until that happens, I'm not going to criticize parents that use them in order to seek a better education and future for their children.