October 20, 1999
House Republicans
introduce voucher bill
___WASHINGTON (ABP)--Republican leaders in the House of Representatives have introduced a voucher bill that would pay tuition at private and parochial schools for an estimated 27,000 students attending public schools declared to be in a state of emergency.
___Modeled after a governor's authority to act following a natural disaster such as destructive weather, the Academic Emergency Act--a five-year, $200 million pilot program--would let governors declare "academic emergencies" in schools that are "chronically failing." The designation would make students eligible to apply for vouchers of up to $3,500.
___"Too many schools are failing our children," House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, told a room full of reporters gathered in the Capitol building. "When communities are devastated by floods, fires, droughts or earthquakes, they are declared natural-disaster areas. They become eligible for financial assistance from the federal government. Yet when schools fail our children, our children remain trapped."
___But critics say the plan is unconstitutional and would hurt public schools.
___"This plan is nothing short of its own natural disaster. It will rip through our cities and towns and decimate our public schools," said Carole Shields, president of People for the American Way.
___The proposal is "old wine in new wineskins," said Jimmy Williamson, professor of education at Baylor University in Waco. While offering supplemental aid to public schools that lose students is a "new wrinkle" in voucher bills, Williamson said, it "does little to shield the fact that public funds will be provided to support religious and other private schools.
___"Rather than trying to support religious and private schools--many of which are no better or worse than public schools--policy makers should be demanding accountability and providing the resources directly to public schools to attract and retain highly qualified teachers and improve the learning environment," he said.
___In a related topic, Secretary of Education Richard Riley and Florida Republican Gov. Jeb Bush squared off over the issues of education vouchers at a recent hearing of the House Budget Committee.
___Bush said an "opportunity scholarship" plan in Florida allows students from public schools that are rated low to receive vouchers that private and parochial schools must accept as a full tuition payment.
___Last year, students at only two public schools qualified for the voucher. More than 130 students used the voucher--67 attended another public school and 58 attended one of five private schools, including four parochial schools.
___Bush said the program has debunked common myths about education vouchers and does not "skim" the best students from low-performing public schools.
___He also said private and parochial schools have to accept anyone under the plan, but he acknowledged that if a private school is not set up to accommodate children with disabilities, the school is not forced to do so under the plan.
___Riley countered that the appeal of vouchers rests on the idea that "there is some parallel universe of superior private schools that is ready, able and willing to take on the job of educating 46 million public school students."
___He added: "I'm here to tell you there is no such parallel universe. The only way to fix public schools is to fix them and not to abandon them."
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