Stop Taxpayer Funded School Vouchers

The federal government is considering whether or not to reauthorize taxpayer funded school vouchers in the District of Columbia. Vouchers are a bad idea because fundamentally they don't "fix" the underlying problem.

They allow some students the option to attend other schools, usually private religious schools, at taxpayer expense. In evaluating these programs over the years the research indicates the performance of "voucher students" isn't significantly better than that of their peers attending the public school. In other words, instead of actually fixing the problem the federal government would rather offer a "feel good solution" that in reality is no solution at all.

Here is what you can do:

Act NOW to Stop School Vouchers!

Urge Congress to End DC Voucher Program

On Tuesday, June 24, the House Appropriations Committee will mark up the FY2009 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill, which could include $18 million for private and religious school vouchers. This bill could contain a continuation of a federally-funded school voucher program even though the program was supposed to end in September 2008.

In 2003, Congress authorized a pilot, private-school voucher program for the District of Columbia. Now, even though the program's five-year pilot period is ending, President Bush has proposed an increase in funding. Next Tuesday, the House Appropriations Committee will mark-up the bill that funds the D.C. voucher program. If this Congress does not end this, the only nationally funded voucher program, more may come and your state could be next.

The D.C. public schools are in need of improvement, yet this program does nothing to help public schools provide high-quality education. In fact, congressionally mandated federal evaluations released in both 2007 and 2008 found no significant differences in academic achievement between voucher students and their peers in D.C. public schools. This program does not work and should not be funded by our tax dollars.

Furthermore, these vouchers have been funding religious education. Because sectarian schools integrate religion throughout their curricula, school vouchers allow the state to fund religious teaching as well as secular coursework.

In addition, despite receiving public money, the participating private schools are not subject to all federal civil rights laws, and do not face the same accountability standards that all public schools must face.

Please call the Majority Office of the House Appropriations Committee ASAP to urge the defeat of this misguided program! The number is (202) 225-2771.

If you cannot make a phone call, please e-mail your representative NOW to urge him or her to oppose this program. Your representative can help stop vouchers before they go any further.

Take action right now!

Vouchers: Leaving Kids Behind

A report in the Washington Post indicates that voucher students show few gains the first year. Voucher supporters claim this is typical, and that voucher student eventually do better than students in public schools deemed to be failing. But, there is evidence that suggests this is not the case.

Students in the D.C. school voucher program, the first federal initiative to spend taxpayer dollars on private school tuition, generally performed no better on reading and math tests after one year in the program than their peers in public schools, the U.S. Education Department said yesterday. [...]

"Vouchers have received a failing grade," said Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.). This just makes the voucher program even more irrelevant." [...]

A Republican-led Congress created the $14 million-a-year program in 2004. The five-year initiative provides $7,500 vouchers each year to 1,800 students, from kindergartners to high school seniors, who attend 58 private schools, most of them Catholic schools. Participants must live in the District and come from low-income families. Advocates say the program offers an alternative to the troubled D.C. public schools.

Most voucher programs are designed so that only private religious schools will accept them. Why should a private school with a tuition fee of $15,000 per year or more want to accept $7,500 or less as full tuition? Particularly when most have a waiting list to get in.

So taxpayers end up funding religious education that may be counter to their personal beliefs. And only a hand full of students get any relief from schools deemed failing.

Instead of promoting this Band aide solution to the challenges facing public schools why not just fix the so-called failing public school? That is where more than 90% of all students are educated.

Why save only a handful of students? And why force taxpayers to subsidize religious teaching?

School vouchers and the fight to safeguard separation of church and state

At first glance it might appear to be a solution, but like all things deemed "to good to be true" taxpayer funded school vouchers are a really bad idea. It's also one of the toughest discussions you might ever have, particularly if you are taking with a parent concerned about the kind of education their child is receiving. So let's examine the issue for a moment.

First, more than 90% of all children are educated in public schools. So doesn't it seem reasonable to think that if there is a problem with public education the solution might be to fix the problem, instead of simply offering a Bandaide solution, so that all students would benefit?

Rev. Barry Lynn, the executive director at Americans United for Separation of Church and State is fond of using this analogy. He says, in essence, 'think about your house for a moment, and how you would feel if it caught fire and burned to the ground because the local fire department didn't have enough fire trucks, and the fire fighters just couldn't get to your house in time to put out the fire. What would the solution to this problem be? To pass a voucher measure, that provided taxpayer funded vouchers so that everyone could go to the nearest Home Depot and purchase a fire extinguisher for their home? Or, would a better solution be to fix the problem that prevented the fire department from getting to your house in the first place?'

Do we really want to give a handful of students taxpayer funded school vouchers, in the hope that a few might get a better education? Or would a better solution be to finally get serious in the country about public education and put the necessary resources behind solving the problem. (And I'm NOT talking about Leave No Child Behind -- which has left a BUNCH of little behinds behind.)

By now you might be asking yourself, if this is a Blog Against Theocracy blogswarm, why is she talking about taxpayer funded school vouchers

Well, in case you weren't aware of it, more than 85% of all private schools are private religious schools -- which means your tax dollars could be going toward funding a religious belief that is counter to your own. (And I am including in that comment your 'belief' not to believe.)

Also, almost all the taxpayer funded school voucher programs in existence today were designed so that the only schools willing to participate are private religious schools. The religious schools will accept a voucher of anywhere from $2500 to $4000 as full tuition payment. The better private schools, that have waiting lists and cost $20,000 a year or more, won't.

So, most of the taxpayer funded school voucher dollars are going right into church coffers.

Let me add that I fully support a parents decision to choose to send their children to a private religious school. Many do so because they not only want their children to be educated in the basics -- reading, writing and arithmetic -- but they also want their children to receive religious instruction. In many private religious schools religion isn't taught as a separate class. The students don't learn religion in first period, and then switch to secular math, english and science classes for the rest of the day. Religion is woven into every class lesson. And again, for the parents who choose that for their children, that's great!

But what about the child that transfers from a public school deemed to be "failing", into a private religious school that is not in keeping with the faith tradition of his or her family? Should that child's math education include learning how to add by counting the number of animals that boarded Noah's Ark?

And there is a great deal of evidence that suggests that the education children are receiving in these schools isn't significantly better than the education they receive in public schools. Keep in mind that public schools MUST ACCEPT EVERY student. That means students with behaviour problems, students with special needs, students with modest test scores. And, public schools must meet certain standards.

Private schools can exclude disruptive students, they can decide not to accept children with special needs, and they can even require that students maintain a certain grade point to remain at the school. And, there are no education standards that must met. It's also good to keep in mind there are no significant differences in test scores of public and private school students. To find out more about this I would suggest you start with David Berliner's book The Manufactured Crisis (written with B. J. Biddle).

You might wonder why I care about this, since I don't have any children of my own. I care because I recognize the value to me, and to all of us, in having an educated people living in this country.

As a nation we've made a commitment that our children received an education. How do we expect to compete in a global community if they don't? I want every child to receive the best education possible, and I want them to learn a full spectrum of ideas -- not ideas tied to one specific religious ideology.

Americans United says it best:

Americans must be free to contribute only to the religious groups of their choosing. Voucher programs violate this principle by forcing all taxpayers to underwrite religious education. Often, religious schools promote sectarian dogma and take controversial stands on issues such as gay rights, the role of women in society and reproductive freedom. Taxpayers should not be required to subsidize the spread of religious/moral opinions they may strongly disagree with. All religious projects including schooling should be funded with voluntary contributions from church members.