Education

When it comes right down to it, I trust the folks in Louisiana to make decisions regarding their children's education far more than I trust the bureaucrats in Washington, DC. Parents, along with local teachers, principals, and education leaders in our communities, know best on how to spend our education tax dollars.  That is why we should reduce the size and scope of the federal government in our classrooms, and return the decision-making of curriculum and the use of taxpayer dollars to those closest to the students. 

Some of my efforts to improve our schools include:

Authoring legislation to prohibit the federal government from mandating, incentivizing, or coercing states to adopt specific academic standards, curriculum, or assessments, including the Common Core State Standards.  

Visiting dozens of schools and hosting regular education forums throughout Louisiana

Leading the fight against the Obama Administration’s assault on school choice in Louisiana

Authoring legislation to let local charter schools to bypass Washington’s bureaucracy and grow education opportunities around the state

Co-sponsoring legislation to expand voucher programs for low-income and military families who may be trapped in low-performing schools

Funding a $1.3 million statewide initiative to improve technology in the classroom and prepare our children for 21st Century jobs.

Authoring legislation to fully fund the federal special education commitment.

Co-sponsoring legislation to spur innovation in higher education by allowing states to create a parallel accreditation system that will expand educational options eligible for federal student loan dollars.

Authoring legislation to make homeschooling more affordable for families by giving tax deductions for expenses related to homeschooling, and deeming those expenses as eligible under Coverdell Education Savings Accounts.

U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions

U.S. Department of Education

Louisiana Department of Education

Latest

  • Vitter: Determine the True Cost of Illegals in Louisiana Schools

    (Washington, D.C.) - Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) today sent a letter to John White, Louisiana Superintendent of Education, regarding the economic and educational impacts of the unaccompanied alien children (UACs) residing in Louisiana. The annual cost to educate UACs in Louisiana was estimated to reach nearly $7 million for the 2014-2015 school year.  

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  • Vitter Common Core Opt-Out Legislation Included in Senate Education Bill

    (Washington, D.C.) - U.S. Senator David Vitter (R-La.) today announced that his legislation to prohibit the federal government from mandating, incentivizing, or coercing states to adopt specific academic standards, including the Common Core standards, curriculum or assessments, will be included in the education legislation, the Every Child Achieves Act, which reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, being considered now in the Senate.

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  • Vitter Introduces Student Privacy Protection Act

    (Washington, D.C.) - U.S. Senator David Vitter (R-La.) today introduced the Student Privacy Protection Act, which would ensure that parents and students retain control of education records. Vitter’s legislation protects student privacy by implementing new guidelines for schools and educational agencies that release education records to third parties. It would also extend privacy protections to homeschooled students.

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  • Vitter, Baldwin Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Protect American Inventors, University Researchers

    (Washington, D.C.) - U.S. Senators David Vitter (R-La.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) today introduced bipartisan legislation to restore the effective one-year protection, known as the “grace period,” for inventors who publicly disclose discoveries prior to filing a patent application on those discoveries. Their legislation, the Grace Period Restoration Act, corrects an unintended oversight in the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA). 

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  • Vitter Works to Help Expand Louisiana Preschools

    (Washington, D.C.) - U.S. Senator David Vitter (R-La.) joined nineteen Senators in pushing support for Preschool Development Grants in the Senate 2016 appropriations bills. Preschool Development Grants, which allow states to create or expand preschool programs, are awarded for four years; however, they are currently funded for only two years. The Senators are asking the heads of the Senate Appropriations Committee to carry out these grants for the full four years awarded. Louisiana was awarded a Preschool Development Grant last December.

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  • Senate Passes Vitter’s Opt Out of Common Core Budget Amendment

    (Washington, D.C.) - U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) today announced that the Senate has passed his amendment prohibiting the federal government from mandating, incentivizing, or coercing states to adopt specific academic standards, including the Common Core standards, curriculum or assessments, as part of the budget. Vitter’s legislation, the Local Control of Education Act, would also allow states that choose to opt out of Common Core after adoption to remain eligible for Race to the Top funding and waivers from No Child Left Behind.

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  • Vitter Budget Amendment Allows States to Opt Out of Common Core Without Federal Penalty

    (Washington, D.C.) - U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) today introduced his legislation, the Local Control of Education Act, as an amendment to the budget bill before the Senate. Vitter’s legislation, which he reintroduced in January, would prohibit the federal government from mandating, incentivizing, or coercing states to adopt specific academic standards, including the Common Core standards, curriculum or assessments. 

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  • Vitter: State Dept. Reinterprets Law, Allows Iranians to Study Nuclear Engineering at U.S. Universities

    (Washington, D.C.) - U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) is questioning the U.S. Department of State on a policy allowing and encouraging Iranian students to study nuclear engineering at American universities while the U.S. still has economic sanctions on Iran pending a nuclear agreement. Vitter says the State Department has changed its position on allowing student visas and wants answers.

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