Amy Jeffries

State Judge Tim Kelley declared today that the way Louisiana lawmakers created the statewide private school voucher program was constitutional, but the way it was funded was not.

Kelley said the case had nothing to do with whether or not public funds can be used to support vouchers, but he said the state couldn’t do so through the public school funding formula known as the MFP.

The district court ruling is a victory for the teacher unions and school boards that want to stop the voucher program and others that would funnel money away from public schools.

Follow WRKF on Twitter from real-time updates from the trial.

Judge Tim Kelley will deliver a decision in 19th District Court Friday afternoon in the lawsuit challenging Louisiana's private school voucher program.

Both sides laid out closing arguments Friday morning.

Follow WRKF on Twitter from real-time updates from the trial.

Lawyers on both sides of the lawsuit challenging the state's private school voucher program are slated to deliver closing arguments today in 19th District Court.

It's unclear if Judge Tim Kelley will immediately issue a ruling.

The trial in the the lawsuit from teacher unions and local school boards seeking to shutdown a statewide voucher program began Wednesday.

A state judge heard more than eight hours of complex testimony in 19th District Court.
 

Kip Holden is in pursuit of a third term as Mayor-President of East Baton Rouge Parish.

In the last of the interviews with the mayoral candidates, WRKF's Amy Jeffries questions Holden on crime, traffic, and his involvement with the public school district.

Mike Walker is East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Kip Holden's most formidable opponent in his run for reelection to a third term.

Walker, who is the current Mayor Pro Tem and a 12-year veteran of the Metro Council, has the backing of the Louisiana Republican Party.

Crime has been the major focus of Walker's campaign, and that's where he started his conversation with WRKF's Amy Jeffries.

Lawyer and property manager Steve Myers knew he would have an uphill battle in his run to be the next mayor-president of East Baton Rouge Parish. But, as he tells WRKF's Amy Jeffries, he entered the race anyway to raise issues beyond crime and traffic that have been staples of the campaign.

Kip Holden is running for a third term as mayor-president of East Baton Rouge Parish. Among Holden's challengers is small businessman Gordon Mese. Mese is hoping to win a mandate to rewrite and enforce the Unified Development Code, which sets the rules for land use in the city parish.

In the first in a series of conversations with the mayoral candidates, Mese tells WRKF's Amy Jeffries the code is the key to everything that ails Baton Rouge... starting with taxes.

State Supt. John White is scolding four school districts for including seniority as a factor for consideration in teacher layoff decisions.

Baton Rouge's bus system is expecting revenues to fall millions short of projections. That means it may not be able to fulfill all the promises for more express routes and shorter wait times made during the successful campaign for a transit tax last spring.