Voucher Update - December 6, 2003

Colorado court rules vouchers unconstitutional

A judge declared Colorado's private school voucher law unconstitutional, saying it illegally strips local school boards of control over education. Denver District Judge Joseph Meyer also issued an injunction barring implementation of the voucher plan. Jeanne Beyer, spokeswoman for the Colorado Education Association, which represents about 37,000 teachers across the state, said the ruling sends a strong message to state lawmakers who approved the plan. The Colorado law required publicly financed vouchers to be offered beginning next year to low-income children in kindergarten through 12th grade to help offset private-school tuition. Under the law, 11 districts with eight or more schools that received low or unsatisfactory academic performance ratings were required to participate; other districts may choose to participate. State budget officials estimated that a fully operational program would strip the 11 districts of $90 million per year.

The Supreme Court heard arguments that could decide the fate of constitutional provisions that bar government funding of religion in 37 states. Last year, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that it is discrimination against religion for Washington to offer scholarships for secular education but deny assistance to Joshua Davey to study pastoral ministries. Justice O’Connor cited the historical precedent for not funding religious instruction with tax funds and appeared skeptical of how the denial of a scholarship violates Davey’s right of free exercise. Both O’Connor and Justice Kennedy worried that a decision striking Washington’s Blaine amendment could end up compelling states with voucher programs to include religious schools even where a state might wish to exclude them from the program. Justice Breyer observed broader implications; if the Blaine amendments are struck, every government grant program would be subject to the argument that religious entities must be funded alongside the secular.

Georgia Governor promotes Blaine end-run

Apparently fearing that the Georgia courts would interpret that state’s constitution strictly, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue is promoting a state constitutional amendment to drop the provision prohibiting direct or indirect public funding of religious institutions. Although he claims the move is only intended to protect social programs, public education supporters led by the Georgia Association of Educators aren't buying the notion. The language Perdue proposes could clearly open the door for vouchers.

Congress is scheduled to vote next week on a spending package that includes funding for a D.C. program that could provide federally-funded vouchers of up to $7,500 to at least 1,700 District schoolchildren to attend private and religious schools. Voucher proponents from across the country, who have funded advocacy efforts in D.C. for more than six years, concentrated considerable resources on Congress to push the idea, even targeting members in their home districts. President Bush unleashed his Education Department to press for the five-year pilot program.

As if DC vouchers aren't enough, a group of congressional lawmakers have formed the "Education Freedom Caucus" to formalize their support for taxpayer-funded vouchers, tax credits and other money-draining ideas. Members of the caucus include Republican Reps. Pete Hoekstra of Michigan, Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Tom Feeney of Florida, Trent Franks and John Shadegg of Arizona, Jack Kingston of Georgia, Mark Souder of Indiana and Marilyn Musgrave of Colorado.

Evidence that the voucher movement seeks a blank check from taxpayers to prop up private and religious schools, with no strings attached, is stark. In "Don’t Over Regulate D.C. Vouchers," <http://www.heritage.org/Research/Education/wm371.cfm> the Heritage Foundation urged members of Congress not to add accountability measures that would discourage private schools from participating, thereby reducing the options available to families. The recent CATO Institute report, "The Struggle for School Choice Policy after Zelman: Regulation vs. the Free Market" <http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-495es.html> also promotes programs with few regulations. The "free market," according to the report, should help children move from public schools to private and religious schools, while vouchers are also phased in to pay tuition for children already attending private schools. The study is a roadmap - and admission - of the real strategy behind vouchers and tax credits: eliminate public schools and benefit private and religious schools.

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle vetoed legislation that would have lifted a cap on the number of state-financed vouchers. Doyle said in his veto message, "Any changes to the voucher program must be part of an overall package that improves education for everyone and addresses serious concerns that have been raised about accountability within the voucher program." The Governor also vetoed a bill that which called for a longitudinal study of the Milwaukee voucher program because it allowed schools to opt out. "We don't make exams optional for students who haven't done their homework, and we shouldn't let schools off the hook just because they don't want to be embarrassed by bad results. We should hold our schools to the same standards of accountability."

The Bush Administration's Education Department, through the office run by former Heritage Foundation staffer Nina Rees, provides critical financial support to pro-voucher groups including the Black Alliance for Educational Options, the Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options and the Greater Educational Opportunities Foundation. People for the American Way chronicles the Department's largesse - and their aid to privatization -- in a new report called "Funding a Movement" at <http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/dfiles/file_259.pdf>.

The Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO) is sponsoring ads touting the success of the state's corporate tax credit that finances private school vouchers. The campaign may be an acknowledgement that not everyone recognizes vouchers as a universal answer to education issues, and damage control to counter the bad publicity generated by scandal, mismanagement, and tepid corporate participation.

It seems that the "virtual voucher" program created in Florida this year to help for-profit education companies - including Bill Bennett's - just doesn't generate enough "profit" for the for-profit interests. Two companies, Bennett's K12 Inc. and Connections Academy, are splitting a $4.8 million contract with the state to provide instruction to students at home this school year. A Florida House member wants to extend the program into future years and add to the $4,800 fee the companies collect per child. Bennett and other online companies charge similar fees in states for providing online curriculum or computers - items that cost considerably less than the per-pupil fee they receive. Though supporters argue that the program saves the state money because children aren't taught in public schools, the Florida program clearly cost the state money because Florida education officials bungled enrollment. Students who are enrolled in the private version and who pay tuition through a tax credit voucher are charged only $3500 each.

A voucher PAC created by national voucher figure Dick DeVos pumped hundreds of thousands of dollars into state and local races in Virginia and Louisiana this fall. The group, All Children Matter in Michigan, targets candidates who support vouchers and tax credits at the expense of public schools. The PAC, working with local voucher advocates, gave some $300,000 in direct contributions and independent expenditures for nearly two dozen Virginia legislative races. The PAC kicked in cash to Louisiana's gubernatorial campaign, financing radio ads for losing candidate and voucher supporter Bobby Jindal, and helped a local race as well. Polly Broussard, a longtime member of the national advisory board for the Association of American Educators and head of the Associated Professional Educators of Louisiana, got help from the PAC in her election to the Baton Rouge school board.

California, again?

A right-wing activist from the U.S. Justice Foundation is trying to land a voucher initiative on the California ballot. Richard Ackerman is promoting a measure that would create "Free Choice" schools, which would receive vouchers from the state as tuition. Ackerman says he represents a group called "Children First."