The Saints’ thrilling victory over the Vikings in overtime Sunday night in the Superdome was perhaps the most exciting win for the city since Gov. Bobby Jindal rallied a ragtag coalition of state legislators to create a voucher program for New Orleans in the summer of 2008.

During a decade when voucher programs were handed defeats in Florida, Arizona, Utah, and Washington, DC, the state of Louisiana established a scholarship program that now provides vouchers worth up to $7,000 so that 1,324 poor youngsters in New Orleans can attend private schools.

How did vouchers come to the Big Easy? Michael Henderson tells the story in an article just published on the Ed Next website, “In the Wake of the Storm.” (The article will appear in the Spring 2010 issue of Ed Next.)

You can also hear Michael Henderson discuss how the voucher program came about in a video just posted on the Ed Next website, “How Vouchers Came to New Orleans.”

And here’s a press release that summarizes the main points of the story: Voucher Supporters Achieve Political Success in Louisiana.