Second verse, same as the first

Gov. Blanco, drunk with insane VETO power, has vetoed another bill. This bill would has created a tax deduction for people who pay for private or parochial education for their dependents. Unlike the previous veto, I expected this one.

This would reduce government revenue (or increase Louisianians income) by an estimated $4.85 million in fiscal 2009. Holy cow, Batman. The state can't afford that. Assuming the state budget does not increase next year (I'll pause here till you stop laughing), then $4.85 million would reduce the budget by 0.015 %. Thats madness. Hospitals will close, children will starve, oh the humanity...

So, money is not the issue here. Gov. Blanco vetoed this bill because it is was a threat to teachers' unions. Teacher unions are the most powerful lobby in the US right now. They will fight school vouchers, school choice, teacher accountability, and anything else that might threaten to reduce teacher union membership.

Until the NEA and AFT have power taken away, public schools will remain sub-poor. Consider the louisiana average act score for 2006: 20.1 . LSU requires a 25 for admission. The highest parish was St. Tammany with 21.6, the lowest, East Carroll, with 15.3 . With the quality of schools varying, standardized tests are the only way to compare schools, and Louisiana public schools are not getting the job done.

Some would compare sending your children to public school to child abuse. If your local public school can't provide an education that will let your child enroll at LSU, they might be right.