Louisiana’s Republicans are cooking with hot sauce. From reversing criminal justice reform measures in a special session to the voter suppression tactics that will figure prominently in the ongoing regular session — it is not looking good.
First, in early March – barely two months after Gov. Landry named his appointments to the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education – BESE did away with the requirement that all 12th graders complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FAFSA in order to graduate or apply for the state’s tuition assistance program, also known as TOPS.
Proponents of this move would have Louisianans believe that it was taken because many students don’t plan to enroll in college after graduating high school, and to require them to complete the FAFSA is an unfair burden. They would also argue that because TOPS is available to every Louisiana high school grad that meets the G.P.A and ACT score requirements, mandating a completed FAFSA is not necessary for that program either.
But that makes no sense. Completing the FAFSA may not be necessary for everyone, but it hurts no one — except maybe those parents and students who don’t want to reveal family income, don’t qualify for need-based financial aid, but still want to raid the state’s TOPS program.
The state Department of Education and state leaders have bastardized TOPS, turning it into a kitty for upper middle class and rich families. And they have obviously grown tired of the annual reports that confirm that the highest TOPS awards are disproportionately given to white students from well-to-do families, no longer helping the students that earlier versions of the program were designed to aid.
Now that students who don’t qualify for need-based federal financial aid have to complete the FAFSA, those families no longer have to report their income. That means we will never be able to say who exactly who is being helped by TOPS – although previous data has already shown that higher GPA and ACT score requirements have effectively shut out far too many poor students from marginalized communities, where schools lack resources and qualified teachers, out of upper level TOPS awards.
More Next Level Evil Genius Madness
That is just one of the reasons not requiring a completed FAFSA for high school graduation is insidious.
Other questions that must be considered: How many students will no longer complete the FAFSA now that it is not required for graduation? Will schools abandon efforts to ensure that students are completing the FAFSA now that it will not impact their graduation rates, leaving those who arguably need the most assistance to fend for themselves?
A college education remains one of the most pivotal ways to lift one’s self out of poverty, and we cannot let anyone – not even Gov. Landry and his buddies on BESE stop our youth from reaching for more. Don’t be fooled, removing the FAFSA requirement is not designed to help Black, Brown or poor students. It is designed to harm them, while hiding the truth about TOPS.
Students from low-income families will not stand a chance without completing the form. Even if they are unsure about college, completing the FAFSA has no adverse impact. It can only open the eyes of a student uncertain about how they can afford higher education to a pathway for success. There is literally nothing regrettable about completing the FAFSA, especially for a kid whose family qualifies for need-based assistance.
Education is at the core of opportunity. Period. Anyone that clout foresee a connection between this move and a widening pay gap, a widening racial wealth gap and increased disparities in economic and employment across Louisiana in the future, is fooling themselves.
At The New Orleans Tribune, are urging parents and school counselors, especially those whose students are Black, Brown or poor, to continue to encourage and assist them in completing the FAFSA despite this irresponsible move by BESE. Don’t let your teen come hoe and declare that he or she doesn’t have to complete the FAFSA because of this change in the law.
The Plan to Siphon More Money
from Public Schools Could Work This Time
Speaking of irresponsible moves – it is clear that the goal of Louisiana’s Republican leaders is to cripple, if not completely dismantle public education.
Landry and his cronies in the legislature have cooked up yet another way to divert much-needed tax dollars from public schools using so-called education savings accounts or ESAs, a bill that is on the legislative agenda during the session now underway.
It must be noted that these ESAs are far worse than the state voucher program that currently provides low-income parents with vouchers they can use to send to send their children to one of the largely unregulated private schools operating in Louisiana.
And here’s why: At least with the voucher program, the money goes directly to the schools, and the state does have some way, even if they have not always proven to be the most effective or efficient, to monitor participation in the voucher program.
In the case of ESAs, there are zero safeguards. Tax dollars, supposedly equal to the amount of money that a school receives each year to educate a child, will be given directly to parents to do with as they please – private school tuition, private tutors, unregulated online schools or any expense that can get approved.
In the case of ESAs, there is a clear line between the students and the tax dollars spent to educate him or her. If that money is to be put in the hands of parents who can essentially do with it as they please, what happens to the public school that child was supposed to attend.
Oh, and here’s the kicker. While the current voucher program is at least limited to students from families that meet some income-requirements, ESAs would be open to every one. In other words, the richest of the rich — people that already send their children to the most elite private schools and can easily afford to do so — could now siphon money from public schools using ESAs.
This not the first time Republicans have attempted establish ESAs in our state. However, much like the case with regressive criminal justice measures, voter suppression and so on, for the last eight years, they were met by a moderate Democrat in the governor’s mansion not afraid to use his veto power.
That measure of protection is gone, and public education, too, will suffer. ESAs will irrevocably harm the most vulnerable public schools, which are the ones that serve the most marginalized public school students. This is a deleterious plan. And it’s not something that might happen. Of course, Democrats in the legislature will put up a fight. But they are outnumbered and out-gunned.
You better believe the state GOP is cooking with hot sauce. And if you have not figured it out, poor people, Black and Brown people and other marginalized communities are getting stirred up in the pot.