BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Superintendent of Education John White is asking private schools to consider taking voucher students for free, at least temporarily, in hopes state lawmakers will later reimburse the schools.

White is trying to shrink a voucher wait list that contains 362 students, after lawmakers and Gov. John Bel Edwards levied a cut on the program to help balance this year's budget. Eliminating the wait list would cost about $2 million.

White said enrolling those students in public schools will cost nearly the same amount, so lawmakers will have to pay the expense either way.

He sent a letter Friday to the legislative leaders urging reimbursement for private schools that take students on the wait list. And he's reached out to private schools to see if they'll accept students without payment.

 

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