Unapproved schools cheat children

Louisiana is infamously the only state in the nation that requires licensing of florists. Hair braiders here, some who learned the craft at their grandmother’s knee, face a licensing regimen that can cost up to $10,000 to complete.

However, if these would-be florists or hair braiders want to open a school in Louisiana, there is an avenue for them to do so with zero state oversight. A recent report by The Associated Press and this newspaper on unapproved schools in Louisiana lifted the lid on a murky world where students can get diplomas while sometimes not even attending classes.

There are about 9,000 of these schools in the state, and they stand apart from public schools, traditional private schools and formal home schooling programs that do have to meet state requirements.

These unapproved schools do not take public money or issue diplomas that are recognized by the state, so officials say there is nothing they can do to rein them in. Worryingly, enrollment at these schools has increased since before the pandemic. In the 2022-23 school year, they counted 21,000 students, more than double the 2017-18 enrollment.

The Louisiana Department of Education makes clear that it cannot guarantee the educational quality or even the safety of such schools. Indeed some have seen abuse scandals, such as Second Chance Academy in Baton Rouge, where a teacher was arrested after allegations of sexual abuse of students.

Some of the schools are led by advocates of parental rights who want to offer alternatives to public education they see as opposed to their Christian values. Louisiana requires that the operator of an unapproved school only list their contact information, the school’s name and address and how many children are enrolled.

It’s hard to understand why the state is willing to allow such confusion in its education marketplace. The report found one unapproved school advertising “state-approved” diplomas, when they are clearly not. LDOE spokesman Ted Beasley said the department could impose no penalty for doing so. He suggested perhaps it was an issue to take up with the attorney general’s office of consumer protection.

As more school choice options are pushed at the state level, we would do well to remind ourselves how we got here. In the 1980s, a group of Christian ministers and home-schoolers sought deregulation of private education. If we are going to take more steps in that direction, we need strong penalties for those who mislead the public.

Florists or hair braiders who object to state licensing requirements are often told they are there to protect the safety of the public and to make sure practitioners meet professional standards.

Give a child a bouquet or a new hairstyle, and Louisiana worries about whether standards are being met. But give that same child an unapproved diploma, and the state washes its hands.