By Steve Gunn
EAGnews.org

BATON ROUGE, La. – The bad news is that the Louisiana Supreme Court has shot down the funding mechanism for the state’s private school voucher program.

The good news is that the court did not consider the legality of the voucher program itself. That leaves an opportunity for supporters to find another way to fund private school tuition vouchers, which Gov. Bobby Jindal has vowed to do.

MORE NEWS: From Classroom to Consulate Chef: Culinary Student Lands Dream Job at U.S. Embassy in Paris

“We are committed to making sure this program continues and we will fund it through the budget,” Jindal said in a press release following Tuesday’s Supreme Court ruling. “The bottom line is that our kids only get one chance to grow up and we are committed to making sure choice is alive and families can send their children to the school of their choice.”

Funding has been a sticky issue for private school voucher programs (and proposed programs) around the nation. Public school defenders consistently argue that giving public funds to private religious schools is unconstitutional at the federal level, and sometimes at the state level.

Courts have recently been more lenient about the practice, ruling that states simply give tuition money to parents, who then have the right to spend it at any school they choose.

But the justices of the Louisiana Supreme Court weren’t buying that argument. They voted 6-1 to halt the voucher program’s funding scheme, citing “the clear, specific and unambiguous language of the (state) constitution” that prohibits the use of state money earmarked for public schools under the Minimum Foundation Program to pay for private or parochial school tuition, according to the Huffington Post.

While the court ruling is a setback for the Louisiana voucher program, Jindal should be commended for refusing to surrender on the issue. We have no doubt that he will identify money within the state budget that can legally be used to pay private school tuition, and we hope the state legislature will give him the budget space he needs.

The voucher program is serving about 5,000 K-12 students this year, and 8,000 are enrolled for next year. Many of them were previously stuck in low-performing public schools and had few other educational options.

MORE NEWS: Know These Before Moving From Cyprus To The UK

This fight is certain to continue. The Jindal administration may find a legally acceptable form of funding, but that won’t stop the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, the Louisiana Association of Educators and the Louisiana Schools Boards Association from continuing their attempts to kill the voucher program.

The three plaintiffs can probably be counted on to attack the voucher program on its own merit, in hopes that the courts will drive a final stake through its heart.

They’ve already demonstrated their vindictiveness since the Supreme Court ruling, demanding that Jindal force private schools that have accepted state money to return it, according to WBRZ.com. They don’t seem to respect the fact that these schools accepted the students and state money in good faith, and have been providing educational services for those students.

Now they’re supposed to cripple their own budgets by returning money they already earned?

Can’t the public education folks simply be happy that they won the funding fight and let yesterday go? Do they really have to take revenge on private school officials who thought they were acting in accordance with state law?