A federal judge has ruled that the federal government has the right to oversee Louisiana’s private-school-voucher assignments to ensure they do not harm desegregation plans, according to local news reports.
But the court also expressed concern about oversight hampering the voucher program and gave the state and the federal government 60 days to agree on a review process.
Gov. Bobby Jindal, a Republican, has been at odds with the U.S. Department of Justice since August about whether his program falls under a 1975 statewide desegregation consent decree barring state aid to any private school that discriminates on the basis of race.
More than half of Louisiana’s 64 school systems remain under some degree of federal court supervision for desegregation.
