Governor Landry Pushes to Expand Education Opportunities through LA GATOR

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry is renewing his push to expand funding for the LA GATOR Scholarship Program, positioning it as a central pillar of his education agenda and a critical opportunity for lawmakers to broaden learning options for children across the state.

LA GATOR—short for Louisiana Giving All True Opportunity to Rise—is the state’s new education savings account (ESA) program. Enacted into law last year, the program allows eligible families to receive state-funded scholarships they can use for a wide range of approved educational expenses, including private school tuition, individual courses, instructional materials, tutoring, and other education-related services. Unlike antiquated voucher programs, LA GATOR is designed to give families flexibility to tailor education to their children’s individual needs.

In his proposed budget for the 2026-2027 fiscal year, Governor Landry is calling for increased funding to ensure the program can serve more of the students it was designed to help. Last year, education officials received about 35,000 eligible student applications from families requesting the scholarship. Most of the funding required to serve them would have been an offset to the state’s public-school expenses—simply allowing dollars to follow the child. Governor Landry requested $93 million to fund these students, but the Louisiana Legislature cut that amount down to just $43.5 million. This meant that less than 1,000 eligible students were funded, in addition to students already in the state’s existing choice program, leaving thousands of families devastated and scrambling to make other plans for their child’s education one month before school started. 

This year, Governor Landry has proposed $88 million in total program funding—still not enough to meet demand, but a strong signal that he is trying to secure a lifeline for these waitlisted children.

A New Model for Education Choice

LA GATOR reflects a broader national shift in education policy. More than a dozen states have adopted ESA-style programs that move beyond the one-size-fits-all approach of traditional schooling. Rather than forcing families to choose between public and private schools, ESAs allow parents to combine educational options—full-time enrollment, part-time courses, interventions for struggling students, career training, and more—into a customized, parent directed learning plan.

Governor Landry has emphasized that flexibility as a defining feature of LA GATOR. The program’s online portal and marketplace will allow families to select from approved providers and courses, track spending, and ensure funds are used responsibly. This structure promotes transparency and encourages families to stretch their dollars further, since unused funds can be applied to other approved services that will benefit their child’s learning and development.

Louisiana-based course providers, including schools, state colleges and universities, nonprofits, and industry training organizations, offer nearly 250 stand-alone courses in the marketplace. Offerings range from core academic subjects such as math, science, English, and social studies to electives and career-focused programs, including construction credentialing, medical billing, criminal justice, refrigeration, and introductory web development. Students receiving LA GATOR are required to satisfy core course requirements before enrolling in electives or using funds for other approved services.

Legislative Debate and Budget Questions

Despite broad support from families and the general public, as demonstrated in our recent poll, some lawmakers have continued to question the program’s scope. In multiple legislative hearings, state Department of Education officials have provided information, shared updates, and answered questions by lawmakers. (See one such meeting here at 1:07:56 through 1:13:48). Some of those questions and answers are below.

Can students attending public schools receive LA GATOR scholarships to access tutoring?
No. This is clear in the LA GATOR law. Students enrolled in public schools are not eligible for LA GATOR scholarships. Public school students may access tutoring through other funds allocated by the legislature to public schools.

Why is an online portal or marketplace needed for the program?
The law allows families to use scholarship funds flexibly: either for full-time enrollment in a participating nonpublic school or for a customized home-based education using individual courses selected through the marketplace. That’s the essence of education freedom: parents, not the government, choosing how best to educate their children—and without being restricted to traditional full-time school models, whether public or private, when so many other high-quality courses and learning services are now available. 

Customized, homebased education remains the fastest growing form of elementary and secondary education thanks to technology and a growing market of education providers. The reality, however, is that only families with financial resources are typically able to pursue such options. LA GATOR seeks to make these opportunities available to all children and their families.

Can Louisiana afford to “fully fund” LA GATOR?
Louisiana can’t afford not to empower families when it comes to their child’s education. Louisiana has the second-highest poverty rate in the country. Despite recent improvements, still only 35% of the state’s public-school children are on grade level. Louisiana continues to suffer from outmigration as workers and their families seek opportunity—and that includes a chance for their children to achieve the American dream. Many of them are going to states that are fully implementing their ESA program.

And the dollars are there. Louisiana continues to end each fiscal year with a healthy budget surplus while having sufficient money to fund critical infrastructure, local projects, and even the work of non-governmental organizations. Most dollars directed to LA GATOR are merely a swap from what the state is paying to educate children anyway in government-run schools that families are trying to exit. Instead of trapping them in schools that aren’t meeting their child’s needs until they grow frustrated and move to Texas or Florida, why not try letting them decide where and how to meet their child’s needs?

A Growing Sense of Urgency

Lawmakers must act soon to show voters that passing the LA GATOR program into law wasn’t an empty promise. Families, schools, and providers need certainty about funding levels in order to plan and to allow Louisiana’s education marketplace to flourish. Governor Landry, through his proposed budget, has framed the decision as a test of whether Louisiana is serious about expanding opportunity and keeping pace with momentum unfolding across the country.

As lawmakers debate the proposal, the stakes are high. LA GATOR represents a chance to help thousands of children, modernize Louisiana’s education system, and invest in the future of our state. Let’s not squander the opportunity.