BATON ROUGE - The state budget is headed to the state House floor for consideration, and Tuesday, Gov. Jeff Landry and others touted a tuition voucher program that would divert money from public schools.

Since the LA Gator scholarship program was first introduced last year, there have been questions about how the program would be continuously funded through its three-year launch. 

Nicole Jefferson is the parent of a New Orleans private school student. Jefferson and a swarm of other parents and students gathered outside the Capitol to support the measure. 

In its current form, the state budget allocates $93.5 million to the LA Gator program.

“So what we are asking the legislature this year is to fund it based on the promises and the commitment that we made,” Gov. Jeff Landry said. “We will get to a point in which universal school choice in Louisiana for everyone is a reality.”

A criticism from those against publicly-funded school choice vouchers is that the money is being diverted from public schools to pay for private institutions.

That money, some argue, could go towards teacher pay raises, which lawmakers have said they’re committed to eventually making happen. It was a part of Amendment 2, which voters turned down in the spring. 

“When you look at the setback we had back in March and what we could be doing to basically fund and give teachers a permanent pay raise and fund these types of scholarships, all that would have been taken care of with one vote,” Landry said.

The state budget is headed to the senate for consideration.