Bobby Jindal Lashes Out at Eric Holder Over Voucher Suit, Asks If White House Is Incompetent Or Ideological
Posted: 08/30/2013 6:09 pm EDT | Updated: 08/30/2013 6:24 pm EDT
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) is steamed.
Earlier this week the state was sued by the U.S. Department of Justice over its school voucher system, one of Jindal's major education initiatives.
"A week ago, 7 o'clock at night, I find out that [U.S. Attorney General] Eric Holder, at the Department of Justice, is filing suit against the state of Louisiana -- now listen to this -- to force these children to go back to failing schools," Jindal said Friday at an Americans for Prosperity conference. The audience booed loudly.
School vouchers use public money to help students pay for private, and often religious, schools. In 2012, Louisiana passed a bill that created a voucher system for about 380,000 low-income students who attended public schools that received a C, D or F grade from the state. About 8,000 students were slated to receive the vouchers this school year, but Louisiana's Supreme Court struck down the law this spring, withJustice John Weimer citing the program's funding mechanism.
Jindal found a separate pot of $40 million to pay for this year's vouchers. But the lawsuit, he said, jeopardizes a group of low-income students who previously attended failing public schools and whose parents sought an alternative.
"What's so atrocious is that Eric Holder, the Obama Department of Justice, [is] using
