Skip Navigation

Diplomas for sale: Inside Louisiana's nonpublic schools

apnews.com Page unavailable

Sorry, this page is unavailable. Please click the logo above to return to the home page.

Page unavailable

Arliya Martin accepted her high school diploma with relief and gratitude. It was her ticket to better-paying work, she felt, after getting kicked out of high school and toiling for eight years at factory jobs to support her children.

“This is a new path for me to get on with my life,” she said.

But Martin didn’t take any classes or pass any tests to receive her degree. She got it in July from a school where students can get a high school diploma for $465.

Unlike public schools, formal homeschooling programs or traditional private schools, nearly 9,000 private schools in Louisiana don’t need state approval to grant degrees. Nearly every one of those unapproved schools was created to serve a single homeschooling family, but some have buildings, classrooms, teachers and dozens of students.

15

You're viewing a single thread.

15 comments
You've viewed 15 comments.