DIMANCHE

As first reported by the Southern Education Desk , U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle threw up a roadblock in the Jindal administration's effort to move Louisiana’s public school system toward vouchers and charter schools. Lemelle issued an injunction to temporarily prevent the State of Louisiana from implementing the recently passed rewrite of state education law in Tangipahoa Parish’s school system, siding with voucher opponents who argue the legislation violates federal desegregation mandates.

Attorneys on both sides of the debate invoked Moore vs. Tangipahoa Parish, a landmark 1965 desegregation case. Those who sought the injunction argue that two of the state’s education reform statutes-Act 1 and Act 2—violate the federal court’s consent decree.

Act 1 deals with hiring and firing practices for teachers, and Act 2, aka the “School Choice Act,” implements the voucher system statewide. Those in opposition of the voucher program argue that Act 1 is incongruent with the hiring practices laid out in the consent decree, and contend that the “School Choice Act,” establishes a discriminatory system in which white children are funneled into private schools.

Lawyers for the state argued that the Acts are a “statewide scheme, applied equally in every school district.” Voucher proponents also point to the fact that the state of Louisiana was not involved in the desegregation case, concluding that the federal court has no jurisdiction in the matter.

Judge Lemelle begs to differ. Lemelle said the matter has been “well-settled that the federal court can enforce its own orders, and not just hope for compliance…If a state-imposed act inhibits enforcement of a federal court order, the state policy must fail.”