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Parents, schools and advocacy groups press Senate to fully fund LA Gator scholarship program
Summary
Students, parents, school leaders and policy groups gave testimony urging full funding of the LA Gator education savings accounts program, describing enrollment impacts, lost kindergarten slots, and citing independent baseline results showing higher graduation and college‑entry rates at participating schools.
Dozens of parents, students, school leaders and policy organizations told the Senate Finance Committee that the LA Gator scholarship program (the state’s education savings account initiative) needs substantially more funding to meet current demand and avoid disruptive enrollment losses.
Dr. Michael Shires of the America First Policy Institute asked the committee to fund the program at levels closer to the governor’s request; he cited application volumes and comparisons with other states’ education‑choice investments. Local school leaders described immediate consequences when funding fell short: closed kindergarten classrooms, lost students, and large unexpected revenue gaps that schools tried to cover with fundraising.
Parents and students gave personal examples: Don Galati described how a scholarship allowed his daughter to leave a hostile classroom and thrive at a new school; Cameron McInnis and other student scholarship recipients described academic gains tied to the program. Christopher Rogers, principal at Saint Francis Xavier Catholic School, and Cheryl Lott from Gardere Community Christian School presented enrollment and outcome data and urged preserving or expanding the House’s funding allocation.
Amanda Martin of StudyTrack presented a voluntary baseline evaluation submitted to the governor’s office that reported higher graduation and college enrollment rates in reporting Gator schools (study figures cited in testimony included 97.5% graduation and ACT averages near 21), but she noted the study is descriptive and recommended deeper fiscal and standardized‑measurement analyses before drawing conclusions about statewide fiscal impacts.
Speakers repeatedly asked senators to preserve or increase the House allocation and to consider $87,000,000–$93,000,000 levels cited by witnesses; committee members acknowledged the competing fiscal priorities and said the budget staff would consolidate testimony and options for members to weigh in upcoming budget deliberations.
No formal vote on LA Gator funding was taken at the hearing; senators signaled that HB 1 budget negotiations remain underway and that multiple funding requests will be prioritized across competing needs.
