BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - A count of how many Louisiana students are enrolled in private and parochial schools through the taxpayer-funded voucher program will be available next week.
Barry Landry, a spokesman for the Department of Education, says schools participating in the program have until Sunday to report their enrollment numbers of voucher students. Landry says the department will release the figures after the numbers are verified.
The statewide program, pushed by Gov. Bobby Jindal, was created by lawmakers earlier this year. It is available to students from low- to moderate-income families who would otherwise attend a public school graded with a C, D or F by the state.
More than 5,600 students had been offered voucher slots to attend 118 private schools before the school year began.
Landrieu called the funding "a critical step in the recovery process."
Vitter says the money will "begin the process to rebuild or repair" the state's highway infrastructure.