Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal signed into law a bill that provides low-income families in failing public schools the opportunity to receive scholarships to attend participating nonpublic schools.

Family income must be no more than 250 percent of the federal poverty guideline and the student must either entering kindergarten or attending an “academically unacceptable” school in an eligible school district.

The legislature allocated $10 million for the program in the first year. Scholarships will be available to students in grades K-3 for the coming 2008-2009 school year.