Department outlines LA Gator ESA rollout as applications top 22,000; legislators press accountability questions

The Department of Education presented a status report on the new LA Gator education savings account program to the Senate Education Committee on March 18, describing the application timeline, vendor platform and early participation numbers while answering lawmakers' questions about academic accountability for participating students.

Department staff said the family application opened March 1 and will close April 15; providers applied beginning in February and remain eligible on a rolling basis. The department said a verification phase and tuition confirmation occur in May-June with funding and account disbursement contingent on appropriation decisions in July. The state's vendor for the enrollment and platform work is Odyssey; the department said it contracted Odyssey to operate the marketplace and customer-service functions and is scheduled to present a contract update to joint budget hearings.

Officials reported 22,658 applications as of the meeting and said about 20,000 of those applications matched the phase-one eligibility categories in the statute and BESE rules. Staff told the committee the phase-one priority groups include (among others) students who were enrolled in the prior-year scholarship program and students with disabilities; at the time of the meeting, about 3,500 prior-voucher students and 1,500 students with disabilities had applied. Department staff said a pre-eligibility tool and an online application are available at the department's site and that Odyssey's platform reported a 93% overall customer-satisfaction rating among users who provided feedback.

Committee members pressed the department on accountability and comparability between LA Gator participants and traditional public-school students. The statute (discussed in committee as Act 1 of 2024) requires participating students to take a nationally recognized reading and math assessment; the department said BESE promulgated rules that limit the statutory minimum to nationally recognized reading and math tests and that participating nonpublic providers may use from an approved list (examples cited in testimony include the Stanford Achievement Test, California Achievement Test, ACT, PSAT and other recognized instruments). The department also said the statute and BESE rules allow that the program's minimum academic reporting requirement is reading and math; BESE and the department declined to add additional required assessments such as social studies/history beyond that statutory minimum, saying that the statute established the minimum requirement.

Legislators including Senator Jackson Andrews and others repeatedly asked whether the department could or should require the same statewide instrument (LEAP) for comparability with traditional public-school accountability. Department witnesses said federal requirements for traditional public schools differ because of federal funding streams and that the Gator statute set the assessment minimum; they also said BESE provided a vetted list of acceptable nationally recognized instruments and the department will roll up reading and math results for reporting to the legislature after year one.

Committee members also sought detail on prioritization if applications exceed appropriation; department staff said the statute sets phase priorities and Odyssey and LDOE are using those parameters to rank and verify applicants. The department said the vendor's customer-service processes are being monitored and will be presented to the joint budget committee.

The presentation documented program milestones, participation by parish and grade (most applications were for incoming kindergarten), and household income breakdowns: the department reported that a large majority of applicants were in lower-income bands and that 84% of applications came from economically disadvantaged households (as defined in program rules).

Notes: Department staff emphasized statutory constraints; legislators raised apple-to-apple accountability concerns and asked for year-one reporting that will allow legislative comparison between participating students and public-school cohorts.