BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Gov. Bobby Jindal has signed into law a bill that creates a new tax break program that will give rebates for donations to voucher programs that allow students to attend private schools.
Jindal says it will give children in failing public schools more opportunities to get an improved education. He signed the measure Monday.
The tax break begins with the 2013-14 school year.
The bill provides a nearly dollar-for-dollar state tax rebate to people and businesses who donate money to nonprofit organizations that give the private school scholarships to students.
Opponents say the tax break program will damage public education in the state by siphoning off children to private schools and taking dollars away from public schools.