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If ever there was a shining example of the
need for greater school choice for parents, this article is it.
Star
Parker examines the Obama administration’s education policy and suggests that greater
school choice is what kids and parents need. Excerpts:
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said
recently, "Our K-12 agenda can be summed up in one word: reform."
If only it were true. But what Duncan calls
reform is indeed putting lipstick on a pig. In this case, the pig is
Washington's never changing formula for solving everything: spending
ever-increasing sums of taxpayer's money.
"Reform" means generating new
ideas about how to spend and coming up with clever new titles for programs.
…
In normal markets, customers drive the
quality of the product. In the case of the public education monopoly, the
customers -- kids and their parents -- are pawns in the game. Anything that
would give the customers power -- such as school choice -- government and union
bureaucrats fight.
The Obama administration, with all its
lofty rhetoric about reform, quietly has allowed congressional Democrats to
kill the successful Washington D.C. voucher program. The program has
demonstrably given 1,300 inner-city kids a better education in private schools
at a third of the cost their counterparts are getting in D.C. public schools.
Even the liberal Washington Post has
editorialized to save the program, as President Obama and Secretary Duncan turn
deaf ears.
Duncan was chastised for recently saying
the "best thing" to happen to education in New Orleans was Katrina.
But education has markedly improved there as parents were given school choice
in the wake of the disaster.
The best thing that could happen to
inner-city education nationwide would be a political Katrina that would give
birth to parental empowerment and school choice.
CBN
reports. Excerpt:
While President Obama was just outside
Washington, D.C., Tuesday, telling kids to stay in school, inside the city
protestors were accusing him of hypocrisy.
They are upset over Obama's decision to end
D.C.'s school voucher program-- a decision opponents claim has endangered the
education of hundreds of students.
CNBC also reports.
HT:
AACS
Dan
Lips reports. Excerpt:
Yesterday, state lawmakers in Indiana
passed a scholarship tax credit program—making the Hoosier state the latest to
offer private school choice. Under the plan, people or corporations who make
donations to non-profits that award tuition scholarships will be eligible for a
50-percent tax credit off their state bill.
The
Wichita Liberty explains how more school choice could help Kansas. Given the early successes seen from school
choice elsewhere, especially the charter schools mentioned in this piece, we
need more school choice across this nation.
Rep.
Howard “Buck” McKeon, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and
Labor, recently applauded
the great work being done by charter schools. Excerpt:
“Charter schools are essential to turning
around our nation’s ailing public schools system. They offer choices to parents
and children, many of whom would otherwise be trapped in chronically
underperforming public schools. And they have made great strides in raising
achievement and tackling unique educational challenges from urban centers to
rural areas,” said McKeon. “But despite their many successes, charter schools
are not growing as they should. They face overwhelming barriers to expansion,
from arbitrary state caps to hostile state legislatures.”
The
Heartland Instituted reports.
Excerpt:
South Carolina could become the latest
state to implement a tax credit scholarship program allowing low-income
children to attend the private school of their parents’ choice, if a bill
introduced during the spring session becomes law.
Kathryn
Jean Lopez explains another reason to support the DC Opportunity
Scholarship school voucher program which Congress and President Obama are
trying to kill.
The
Washington Post reports that President Obama is promising a so-called
compromise on the DC school voucher program.
Congress and Obama approved a budget which destroyed the popular and
successful DC Opportunity Scholarship which allowed low-income children in our
nation’s capital to attend the school of their choice. Obama is now saying he will allow the program
to continue for the currently enrolled students but will not allow new students
to apply for or enter the program.
The
president’s hypocrisy on this issue is galling.
If the voucher program is good for the current students, why does the
president not want more underprivileged DC residents to benefit from the school
choice program? Perhaps he just wants to
silence opposition.
In
a post on his blog entitled “Obama’s
Outrageous Sin Against Our Kids,” black journalist Juan Williams criticizes
President Obama for allowing the successful school voucher program in
Washington, DC to be killed. Excerpt:
This reckless dismantling of the D.C.
voucher program does not bode well for arguments to come about standards in the
effort to reauthorize No Child Left Behind. It does not speak well of the
promise of President Obama to be the “Education President,’ who once seemed
primed to stand up for all children who want to learn and especially minority
children.
And its time for all of us to get outraged
about this sin against our children.
George
Will also comments on this and other misguided
budgetary priorities here.
Daniel
Herbster reporting
As
AdvanceUSA
blog reported, the Arizona Supreme Court recently overturned that state’s school
voucher program, ruling the program, which had benefited low-income and
disabled children, unconstitutional. The
Institute for Justice is a libertarian legal
organization which defended the Arizona voucher program in court. Tim Keller, the executive director of the
Institute for Justice Arizona Chapter, has been kind enough to share with us
about the Arizona case and his work for IJ.
DH: Tim, how was the Arizona school voucher
program set up, and what kinds of results was it achieving before the court
made its ruling?
TK: Enacted and implemented in 2006, Arizona’s two
innovative voucher programs, for children with disabilities and children in
foster care, offered a genuine lifeline to many families trapped in schools
that failed to meet their children’s unique educational needs. Teachers’
unions immediately challenged both programs in court. The Institute for
Justice filed intervention papers on behalf of parents and children relying on
the programs to defend against the lawsuits. During the more than two
years of litigation, the programs grew numerically and the children receiving
the vouchers grew both socially and academically. To say that parental
satisfaction soared is an understatement. During the litigation, we
actually filed a number of testimonials
with the Arizona Supreme Court typical of the truly life-changing impact the
programs have had on families.
DH: On what grounds did the Arizona Supreme Court
overturn the voucher program? Why do you
feel they wrongly decided this case?
TK: The Arizona Supreme Court declared that the
voucher programs violate a provision of the Arizona Constitution that prohibits
state funds being appropriated “in aid of” private and religious schools. The Court wrongly decided the case because
the programs were not passed “in aid of” schools. The programs were passed “in aid of”
individuals. Just like food stamps do
not aid grocery stores, school vouchers do not aid schools. For decades, the legal test applied by the
Arizona Supreme Court to similar programs challenged under the so-called “aid
clause” has been the “true beneficiary” test.
In this case, as in prior Arizona school choice cases, parents and
children are the true beneficiaries, not private schools.
Moreover, the decision threatens numerous other educational
aid programs that allow students to use public funds to attend private
schools. For example, at the
post-secondary level, Arizona has no less than three separate programs that
award state-funded vouchers or scholarships to students who can choose to use
those public funds at private, even religious, colleges and universities. The decision also jeopardizes a program that
allows public school districts to place children with disabilities in private
schools and use state funds to pay the tuition to those schools.
DH: Your
press release mentioned a young girl named Lexie. How had she benefited from the voucher
program and what will she have to do once it is discontinued?
The
Department of Education has released a report
showing the successes of the Washington, DC school voucher program which was recently
eliminated by Congress and President Obama.
The Senior Republican Member of the House Education and Labor Committee issued a
statement in support of the voucher program, indicating our nation needs
more school choice, not less.
CitizenLink also
reports. Suzanne Fields also mentions
the report in
her column today.
 Unfortunately, the Supreme Court of Arizona has ruled that the state’s school voucher program is unconstitutional. The program enables parents of disabled or foster children to send their kids to a school of their choice that they would not previously have been able to afford. Because of the Court’s unanimous decision, the only way the voucher program could be resurrected is if voters approve a constitutional amendment protecting it. Jillian Bandes also reports. Excerpt:
State laws that prohibit school boards from giving money to private educational institutions are now the reason disabled kids in Arizona can no longer attend specialized classes that meet their needs.
A unanimous Arizona Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday held that vouchers were illegal in their state, and the children who used them to attend private, specialized schools can no longer do so.
For more information check the website of the Institute for Justice Arizona Chapter which defended the voucher program in court. Also, see this YouTube video (see below) that the Institute created about “Lexie Weck, a six-year-old little girl with autism, cerebral palsy and mild mental retardation who relies on the program for pupils with disabilities to attend the Chrysalis Academy, a small private school in Tempe that specializes in working with autistic children.”
Our nation needs more school choice for parents, not less. Unfortunately, many politicians (including President Obama who recently approved a spending bill which destroyed the successful DC Opportunity Scholarship voucher program) will sacrifice school choice for the sake of a radical ideology and crass political calculations.
Dan
Lips and Robert C. Enlow explain
at National Review Online. Excerpt:
Any doubts about congressional leaders’
priorities on education were erased Monday with the release of the new $450
billion omnibus bill. It includes a provision to eliminate the D.C. Opportunity
Scholarship program, which is currently helping low-income children attend
private schools in the nation’s capital.
If adopted, the measure will basically
ensure that 1,700 of the poorest children in D.C. are forced to leave their
private schools and transfer back into the District’s low-performing and often
dangerous public schools. Angered scholarship parents may wonder why Congress
is moving so quickly to end this $14 million program just as the federal
government is showering money on Wall Street and the auto companies.
The
Washington Post also reports on the attempt to gut the successful DC school
voucher program in the massive omnibus spending bill currently being considered
in Congress.
AdvanceUSA
has learned that a measure in the massive Omnibus spending bill would, for all
practical purposes, terminate the hugely successful and incredibly popular school
voucher program for Washington, DC. It
is appalling that the House would eagerly seek to kill such an important school
choice program. The House will vote on
the Omnibus on Wednesday.
The
website VoicesofSchoolChoice.org
has more information about the stressfulness of the DC voucher program, and
this YouTube video shows allows the children who benefit from the program to
explain what it means to them to be able to attend good schools.
In
his column, renowned
economist Thomas Sowell reviewed a book called “Outliers” about the unique circumstances
that allow some people to dramatically excel.
The book cites the incredible achievements of charter schools in raising
academic achievement of minority students far above that of average minority
achievement. Excerpt from Sowell’s
column:
One of the most inspiring chapters in
"Outliers" is about a KIPP charter school serving minority students,
whose academic performances far exceed those of other minority students, even
though these students were selected by lottery, rather than on the basis of
ability.
A lot could be done to support and expand
such schools. But a crucial factor in the success of the KIPP schools is a
commitment by the students and their parents to a demanding educational
program. No politician or bureaucrat can create that.
Indeed, politicians and bureaucrats have
done much that has had the net effect of spreading attitudes that undermine the
prospects of using currently available opportunities.
One
of the best things politicians could do to really improve education for racial
minorities is to allow and encourage the spread of charter schools (and of more
school choice in general).
Congratulations.
Read the Law Suit
By:
Rachel Devamithran
American Association of Christian Schools
Rebecca
Fay could not understand beyond a beginning kindergartener’s math level and a
first grade reading level in the Arizona public school system. Weston and
Montgomery Phipps were both mute, unable to read and write, and couldn’t be
controlled. Hope for improvement was slim, until the Arizona Scholarships for
Pupil with Disabilities allowed them to attend Father’s Heart Christian School.
It
worked. In one year, Rebecca achieved a sixth grade understanding of math,
science, and reading, and the Phipps’ boys were able to write, speak, and sit
quietly.
The
children’s achievements were awarded with lawsuits by the American Civil
Liberties Union (ACLU) that questioned the legality of voucher programs.
The
illustrious Heritage Foundation has been issuing policy memos to
president-elect Obama in an effort to work together for bipartisan solutions to
our nation’s urgent problems. One such
memo discusses
education reform. Dan Lips and
Jennifer Marshall of the Heritage foundation write in their conclusion:
You were right to say during your campaign
that "we cannot be satisfied until every child in America...has the same
chance for a good education that we want for our own children." But four
decades of experience with increasing federal involvement has shown that
Washington cannot deliver on that promise. Instead of further expanding federal
authority in education, your Administration should empower those who have more
power to make a difference in children's education, especially parents.
Lips
and Marshall emphasize that the most important component of meaningful
education reform is greater school choice for parents. Now that’s “change we can believe in.” Read the full text of this
important policy brief here.
Cal
Thomas points out the irony
of Barack and Michelle Obama practicing school choice in Washington,
DC. Excerpt:
Parents who put their children first are to
be admired and emulated. Politicians who are parents and who have the power to
let others make the choices they can make, but refuse to do so, are
inconsistent at best and hypocrites at worst.
Throughout the campaign, Barack Obama
presented himself as a champion of the poor and middle class. Poor and
middle-class parents do not love their children any less than the Obamas love
their daughters. They want their kids to have a good education, realizing it is
their ticket to a better life. But liberal politicians deny them that right. Is
that fair?
The
media has reported that President Elect Barack Obama and his wife are searching
for private schools for their children. Terence
Jeffrey exposes
a classic case of liberal hypocrisy where a politician who denounces school
choice for poor and middle class families makes use of it for himself.
Good
news for the rights of parents to home school their children, as the San
Diego Union-Tribune reports. Also,
the Home School Legal Defense Association also explains the details of
this ruling. Excerpt:
In a unanimous decision, the California
Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District today ruled that “California
statutes permit home schooling as a species of private school education.”
Today’s decision stands in stark contrast
to the opinion this same three-judge panel issued in February, which would have
made California the only state in the union to outlaw home education had it
remained in effect.
Yesterday
morning I had the privilege to meet with Rob Staley of The Crossing. The Crossing is an amazing alternative school
program that is helping kids with behavioral or developmental challenges that
require a unique learning environment.
The Crossing is not an alternative to public education but rather comes
along side public school systems and helps meet the needs of at-risk kids while
helping the school system financially and academically. An essential part of the success of The
Crossing is its strong faith-based core values.
With
the serious challenges facing the American educational system, more
outside-the-box faith-based organizations like The Crossing will be
needed. With a little school choice
legislation, these kinds of programs could greatly expand, meeting the needs of
at-risk kids and saving tax-payer dollars.
Find
out more about The Crossing at www.crossingeducation.com.
Daniel Herbster
reporting
Those
in Congress now trying to kill the effective DC school voucher program would do
well to check out the website www.voicesofschoolchoice.org
where they could see testimonials of people who have been positively impacted
by school choice programs.
Paul
Weyrich explains. Excerpt:
For many years the teachers unions used
scare tactics to prevent school choice programs from enactment. They claimed
that voucher programs would destroy the public school system. In fact, faced
with competition, school choice has actually strengthened the public schools.
Now that the public is able to see that union propaganda was a big lie citizens
are more willing to consider vouchers. This is especially true now that it is
widely acknowledged that the public school system is broken, graduating young
people who hardly can read or write and who fail math and science.
At a time when conservatives are in a funk,
believing that nothing good is happening in America, it is time to celebrate
this milestone development in Georgia. This is a victory not just for Georgians
but for all parents who are concerned with the state of public education in
these United States.
The
While House held a forum on the troubling trend of faith-based schools in the
inner city having to close their doors.
President Bush spoke at the event and you can read his
speech here. Hopefully the forum
will help get out the message that greater school choice for parents and greater
protections for faith-based education are important elements in reforming
American education.
Some
hopeful news is
coming out of California for advocates of parental rights, specifically the
right to homeschool. The California
appeals court which recently ruled that parents do not have a right to
homeschool their children has decided to reconsider its decision. Our friends at the Alliance Defense Fund played
a pivotal role in this decision by filing a petition
to reconsider the case, which was accepted.
The Pacific
Justice Institute also reports on the decision. Excerpt:
This means the Rachel L. decision, which has sparked a nationwide uproar, will not
go into effect as it is currently written. The Second District Court of Appeal
has instead decided to re-hear the case, with a new round of briefings due in
late April. It would likely take the court several additional months to
schedule oral argument and issue another decision.
Today's announcement by the court that it will re-hear the case reinforces
PJI's position that homeschooling families should continue their current
programs without fear of governmental interference.
The
Home School Legal Defense fund also issued a statement. Excerpt:
Home School Legal Defense Association will
seek permission to file such an amicus brief and will coordinate efforts with a
number of organizations interesting in filing briefs to support the right of
parents to homeschool their children in California.
"This is a great first step,"
said Michael Farris, chairman of HSLDA. "We are very glad that this case will
be reheard and that this opinion has been vacated, but there is no guarantee as
to what the ultimate outcome will be.
This case remains our top priority," he added.
“Home-Schoolers 'In Shock' Over Court Ruling”
Homeschoolers in California and advocates of school choice endured a sneak attack recently when a California appeals court came out with a sweeping ruling that declares that parents have no constitutional right to educate their children in the home. The Washington Times reports. Excerpt:
National and California home-schooling advocates are banding together to fight a state court ruling they say could essentially outlaw the practice of allowing parents to teach their children at home.
 California Supreme Court Hears Marriage Case
As the LA Times reports, the California Supreme Court has heard the challenge to that state’s Defense of Marriage Act which defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman only. Will the court usurp the will of the people and redefine marriage? We should know in less than 90 days. Excerpt from LA Times story:
The court is deciding four lawsuits brought on behalf of nearly two dozen same-sex couples. A trial judge here ruled in favor of same-sex marriages, but a Court of Appeal rejected that decision on a 2-1 vote. Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger argued in favor of keeping marriage an opposite-sex union, and Christian-affiliated groups joined them.
The California high court invalidated the San Francisco marriage licenses in August 2004, but will decide within 90 days whether gay men and lesbians should be permitted to marry in the future.
HSLDA reports. On their website you can
sign a petition in support of parents’ right to home school their
children. AdvanceUSA thanks HSLDA for
taking legal action in this case.
James Dobson comments here.
Lee
Culpepper chronicles the advantages
and accomplishments of charter schools.
Excerpt:
Charter schools have benefited from a
similar philosophy. They, too, “accomplish more with less.” They entice
committed families and teachers searching for something better in public
education. They also strike fear in the hearts of teacher unions and slippery
politicians.
Overall, charter schools have produced at
least as good -- but typically better results than traditional public schools.
Charter
schools demonstrate that greater choice and greater parental involvement are
important elements of improving education in America. Having worked in a charter school during
college, AdvanceUSA’s Daniel Herbster can attest to the academic quality and beneficial
atmosphere of those institutions.
 Last night President Bush delivered his final State of the Union address to a combined gathering of both houses of Congress. His speech touched on a number of important pro-life, pro-family, and religious liberty issues.
The president threw down the gauntlet on stem cell research, telling Congress that we must continue to fund ethical research because human life must be respected. He highlighted the recent breakthrough in obtaining pluripotent stem cells from skin cells as proof that unethical research was unnecessary. The President championed the role of faith-based organizations in providing services and changing lives far more effectively than government alone can do. He called on Congress to allow more flexibility and local control for schools under the No Child Left Behind Act. He also encouraged Congress to maintain “charitable choice” provisions in federal law which protect the religious hiring rights of faith-based organizations (ex: allowing a Catholic charity to hire only Catholics who share that organization’s mission and standards).
The White House website has provided the text of the president’s address along with video links that allow you to watch the address. To read a helpful fact sheet provided by the administration about the agenda outlined in the president’s speech click here. To read helpful summaries of the various topics see below:
The Heritage Foundation has just released an
embarrassing report (for opponents of school choice) that shows 37% of
Representatives and 45% of Senators send their children to private schools. Excerpt:
Based on the survey results, if
all of the Members who exercised school choice for their own children had
supported school choice in policy, every major legislative effort in recent
years to give parents school choice would have passed. Congress should support
policies that give all families the opportunity to choose the best school
options for their children.
 Tuesday afternoon AdvanceUSA, along with educators,
community leaders, and education advocates, attended the “Compassion in Action
Roundtable” sponsored by the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community
Initiatives. The topic of the roundtable was “Real Choices for
Educational Improvement: How Faith-Based and Community Organizations Help
Bridge the Achievement Gap.”
A number
of government, church, educational, and community leaders shared success
stories of rising test scores and parental satisfaction because of the
intervention of faith-based and community organizations. Among the
speakers were Bishop William Lori who spoke about the dramatic improvements in
inner city schools in Bridgeport,
Connecticut as well as Sally
Sachar, Virginia Walden-For, and Chris Kelly who highlighted the DC Opportunity
Scholarship Program which benefits low income families in the nation’s capital.
AdvanceUSA
was pleased to hear several speakers emphasize the need for school
choice. Two general categories of school choice were discussed.
Vouchers are direct payments by the government to parents or
schools in order to provide for students’ private or public education thus
providing more options than just the local school district.
Tax Credits allow parents to deduct some or all of their tuition
payments from their taxes, or they give individuals or businesses a tax credit
for contributing to a non-public school scholarship fund. Some school
choice advocates prefer this method as it minimizes government involvement in
private school affairs.
The U.S.
Department of Education’s new report entitled “Education Options in the States:
State Programs that Provide Financial Assistance for Attendance at Private
Elementary or Secondary Schools” was also highlighted at the event and can
be read online here.
AdvanceUSA
hopes this interesting and inspiring meeting will help advance the cause of
school choice for parents and further improve the state of education in America through
the efforts of faith-based and community initiatives.
For more
information on school choice ideas check the AdvanceUSA pro-family page.
The A-PLUS Act was recently proposed and would amend the No Child Left Behind Act to allow states and communities to increase flexibility and decrease federal control. The following video by the Heritage Foundation explains these reform measures in depth.
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