BATON ROUGE (AP) — A Louisiana teachers union asked a state court Thursday to throw out a set of sweeping education changes pushed by Gov. Bobby Jindal and passed by lawmakers in the just-ended legislative session.

At issue are changes to the state’s elementary and secondary school funding formula that will pay for a statewide voucher program, online schools, college tuition scholarships and an expansion of charter schools.

Also targeted are changes made to teacher tenure and salary law, to make it harder for teachers to reach the job protection status and to get rid of statewide pay scales for teachers.

The Louisiana Federation of Teachers filed two lawsuits in Baton Rouge district court. The lawsuits say the changes violate constitutional provisions governing the passage of legislation and governing the school financing formula.

“In the haste to steamroll these bills through the Legislature, the constitution was often treated like little more than a list of inconvenient suggestions,” LFT President Steve Monaghan said. “The passage of these laws has elevated legal challenges to acts of civic responsibility.”

Teachers repeatedly protested at the Louisiana Capitol in March and April, but the measures were fast-tracked through the Legislature by Jindal allies. Union leaders had promised lawsuits, complaining about the process used to push the measures to law.

Supporters said the education changes will give parents more choices for their children, reward highly-performing teachers and improve education for children in Louisiana, which ranks in the bottom five states for national achievement test performance. Jindal made the revamp his main focus of the legislative session.

Jindal described the court challenge as a bid by special interests to preserve a failing educational system. The Republican governor calls the teacher union part of a “coalition of the status quo.”

“Forty-four percent of our public schools are failing, 225,000 students are below grade level and our state is spending a billion dollars a year on failing schools. That’s unacceptable. The people of Louisiana demand and deserve better,” Jindal said in a statement. He added, “Holding up these reforms in court will only deny parents and students the opportunity to escape failing schools.”