A private school voucher bill was introduced in the US House of Representatives on May 29, the Congress.gov website reports.
The bill, HR 4773, is known as the “Creating Hope and Opportunity for Individuals and Communities through Education” Act, or the CHOICE Act, and it’s an exact duplicate of S. 1909. The bill would authorize federal grants for the improvement of special education services to be used for funding state programs that allow the parents of a disabled child to make a genuine independent choice of the appropriate public or private school for their child.
It would also establish rules for those programs, including that “they: (1) permit parents to receive state funds to pay some or all of the costs of their disabled child’s attendance at the selected school, or (2) permit persons to receive a state tax credit for donations to an entity that provides funds to enable parents to pay some or all of the costs of their disabled child’s attendance at that school.”
That’s where the vouchers come in. The main gist of the bill is to continue the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program, which helps low-income students in the capital pay for their education at private schools, and to stop the Obama administration from putting up what many Republicans, including Rep John Kline, chair of the House education committee, see as roadblocks to students who could benefit from the Opportunity Scholarship program.
Voucher laws have been hung up in a constitutional quagmire across the country, such as in Louisiana, Alabama, and North Carolina. They are, however, used favorably in many states including, to a limited extent, Illinois. Indiana, for example, has implemented a voucher program, known as the Indiana School Scholarship Tax Credit Program, which provides scholarships to help low-income students pay tuition at private schools.
The National Association of Secondary School Principals opposes HR 4773 and has been a vocal opponent of voucher laws in general. The association’s executive director, JoAnn Bartoletti, said in January, “NASSP have long stated its opposition to private school vouchers, which drain money away from public schools, reduce accountability in the education system, and ultimately harm public schools where the vast majority of our nation’s youth receive their education.”
The Senate version of the bill has been stalled in committee since Jan 9, and it looks to have little hope of making it to the floor. It’s common to introduce an identical bill in the other chamber when this happens, and that’s what Rep Todd Rokita, Republican of Indiana, has perhaps done here.
I think the House version of the bill has a much better chance, though, since the speaker of the House, John Boehner, Republican of Ohio, has a warm place in his heart for the D.C. program. The program costs only about $20 million a year and serves thousands of students, but some politicians, particularly Democrats, say it’s not the federal government’s place to pay for private school tuition.
The National Association of School Boards also stands in opposition to Mr Boehner on the issue of vouchers. In a letter urging members of the House not to support the CHOICE Act, NSBA Executive Director Thomas J Gentzel wrote:
On behalf of the 90,000 school board members who govern our nation’s public school districts which educate nearly 50 million students, the National School Boards Association (NSBA) is writing in strong opposition to the CHOICE Act (Creating Hope and Opportunities for Individuals and Communities through Education Act). Therefore, we urge you not to support the CHOICE Act.
NSBA urges Congress to maximize resources for our public schools, which serve all students regardless of gender, disability or economic status, and adhere to federal civil rights laws and public accountability standards. Hence, NSBA opposes private school vouchers and urges Congress to reject using any federal funds or incentives for a national voucher program, including any special education vouchers for military children and/or specific subgroups of students. NSBA also opposes amendments to make vouchers part of a reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), or other legislation. …
Public funds should not be used directly or indirectly through tax credits, vouchers, or a choice system to fund education at any elementary and/or secondary private, parochial, or home school. NSBA supports federal investments in our public school students and applauds Congress’ work to improve our nation’s public schools.
