Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal just scored an important victory for real choice, as the Justice Department backed off its threat to end the state’s groundbreaking school-voucher program that allows thousands of poor children to attend the state’s best schools.

…[T]he Republican governor warned that the Obama administration may now attempt to “red tape and regulate the program to death” without resorting to formal legal action, to prevent what the Justice Department says will be the negative impact of the plan on Louisiana’s minority students.

The battle attracted national attention with the administration taking on an education reform that many Republicans in Congress and in the states see as a centerpiece of their drive to introduce competition and choice into the nation’s school systems.

About 7,000 children are participating in Louisiana’s voucher program, which allows them to use taxpayer-funded vouchers to attend public or private schools.

“We are pleased that the Obama administration has given up its attempt to end the Louisiana Scholarship Program with this absurd lawsuit. It is great the Department of Justice has realized, at least for the time being, it has no authority to end equal opportunity of education for Louisiana children,” Mr. Jindal said in a Monday night statement. “However, we will continue to fight, at every step, the Department of Justice’s new Washington strategy to red-tape and regulate the program to death.”

The news of the Justice Department’s pivot came to light in a backhanded way, when a preliminary ruling by U.S. District Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle on Monday revealed the federal government had dropped its request for an injunction to stop the program. A hearing is scheduled for Friday in New Orleans federal court on a Justice Department request to monitor the program.

House Republicans cheered the news, praising Louisiana’s scholarship program and urging the Justice Department to back down from its push for a federal review process.

“This is a huge victory for so many families and students who the Department of Justice tried to deny the best possible education,” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Virginia Republican, said. “But the fight isn’t over. President Obama still believes Washington knows better than Louisiana parents.”