One question voucher supporters never answer

Published July 29, 2015

By Chris Fitzsimon

by Chris Fitzsimon, NC Policy Watch and NC SPIN panelist, July 29, 2015.

Several months ago on a public affairs television show, the host asked one of the two guests why he was opposed to the school voucher scheme that was upheld last week by the N.C Supreme Court.

The guest cited the lack of accountability in how the program spent taxpayer money and pointed out that students at some voucher schools were being taught that humans and dinosaurs co-existed and that slaves were treated well.

The host seemed taken aback and asked where in the world that was that being taught and was told that many of the roughly 700 schools eligible for taxpayer-funded vouchers are fundamentalist Christian academies that use the A-Beka Book curriculum and books from Bob Jones University Press that include the inaccurate and offensive claims.

A-Beka also tells students that in some areas of the country the KKK fought a decline in morality and that gay men and lesbians have no more claims to special rights than child molesters or rapists.

The host responded that he had no idea things had gone that far.

Not many people know it, but that is one result of the head scratching decision by the N.C. Supreme Court, that thousands of children will learn wildly inaccurate versions of history and science and the taxpayers will pick up the tab.

The same court that has previously ruled that every child in North Carolina has a right to a “sound, basic education” just decided that taxpayers must fund any sort of education the parents prefer, however unsound it may be.

It is not about “school choice,” as the proponents of voucher schemes refer to it. Parents can already choose to send their kids to any school they want, no matter what the schools teach.

But why should the taxpayers of North Carolina pay to teach children wildly inaccurate and offensive information which ill prepares them for their adult lives?

It is a question voucher proponents never directly answer. The other guest on the public affairs show a few months ago simply said “well, not many of the schools use those books.” That’s not true.

Seventy percent of the schools eligible for vouchers are religious based and a large number of them are conservative fundamentalist schools that use the curriculum.

And the number of schools isn’t even the point. There are almost no requirements for schools to meet in the voucher program that is now almost certain to expand with last week’s ruling.

There no goals or guidelines for curriculum, no certification credentials or minimum education requirements for teachers. They don’t even have to undergo a criminal background check.

The voucher schools have to administer a national standardized test, but it doesn’t matter which one and it can be a test that’s not accepted as credible by the education community.

And maybe most tellingly, no test scores from voucher schools will be made public as part of the A-F grading system that is now used to evaluate public schools.

Proponents of the accountability system, the same people behind the voucher scheme, say that parents need the information to make decisions about their children’s education. Apparently, they don’t need the same information about private academies and religious schools that receive public funding.

Defenders of the vouchers don’t have much of a response to that, other than to say that parents will provide the ultimate accountability by choosing the school, the implication being that parents would never choose a school that teaches the absurd claims about science and history.

But they already are choosing those schools, and while it may be their right, why should the taxpayers support it?

There are plenty of other reasons the voucher scheme is not in the best interest of the state. It diverts taxpayer funds from traditional public schools.

The $4,200 value of the voucher is far below the tuition at many of the state’s best private schools so it will not open doors to the elite private academies for low-income students.

And there is little evidence that students at voucher schools perform better than their counterparts at traditional public schools and lot of evidence that they do worse, including in Milwaukee that has the longest running voucher program in the country.

The courts in North Carolina have made their decision, so the future of vouchers will now be determined by the political process.

Since the ruling, there have been many stories featuring individual children and their parents celebrating the decision. The well-funded pro-voucher forces have mastered the public relations game, providing adorable children as part of their defense of the sketchy scheme.

But what are those adorable kids going to be learning? And why don’t the taxpayers who are funding those schools have the right to at least a basic understanding of what their money is paying for?

- See more at: http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/2015/07/29/one-question-voucher-scheme-supporters-never-answer/#sthash.IExhlHPv.dpuf

July 29, 2015 at 11:52 am
Richard L Bunce says:

Chris, parents know better than government education bureaucrats in DC and Raleigh what is best for their children. No private school gets a dollar of taxpayers money until a parent decides to send their child to that private school. Unfortunately the flawed traditional government school systems receive significant funding regardless of student count. Whenever education vouchers are offered there are always more applicants and vouchers. So the question Chris will not answer is why does he and his education bureaucrat friends think they know better than the parents?

July 29, 2015 at 11:55 am
Richard L Bunce says:

... and as usual Chris's math is wrong. Per student funding in traditional government schools in NC is more than double the education voucher amount. So when one student leaves a traditional government school to attend a private school using an education voucher the per student funding at the traditional government school actually increases.

July 29, 2015 at 1:07 pm
Vicki Boyer says:

Mr. Bruce seems expresses the thought that parents who want their children to learn that dinosaurs roamed the earth with mankind are better at choosing a school for their children than are experts in education, who have been educated in the real world.

No child should be taught a lie. That lie will define their entire life. It will limit their future, and could even turn them away from the religious beliefs their parents want them to learn.

July 30, 2015 at 1:50 pm
Richard L Bunce says:

"...experts in education, who have been educated in the real world."

Facts not in evidence. The "experts" are indoctrinated in the Government Education Industrial Complex controlled University Education Departments. That is perhaps the biggest problem with Traditional Government Schools.

Parents do know what is best for their children and that is their responsibility. Government education bureaucrats in DC and Raleigh are too busy getting their dinner reservations in order to give a rip about any of that.

July 31, 2015 at 9:30 am
bruce stanley says:

Richard Bunce, We think a lot alike! Would you like to meet over a beverage sometime? Regards, Bruce

paladinnc@hotmail.com

July 29, 2015 at 2:33 pm
Johnny Hiott says:

If history books in public schools can portray lbj and obama as good presidents then it can be no bigger lie that the KKK fought for morality. As far as the treatment of slaves goes : they never received any worse treatment than when the yankee soldiers marched through the south murdering and raping any blacks they found. The ones they did not murder they enslaved for the union army.

July 29, 2015 at 10:33 pm
Tom Hauck says:

If the public schools were doing a good job of teaching all the children, there would be no desire or need for alternative schools. The sad truth is that the public schools do not teach all the children particularly do not do as good a job of teaching the blacks, the Hispanics, the poor and actually everyone except the Asians and Whites. These last two groups do far better in their test results than any of the other groups.

July 30, 2015 at 10:47 am
bruce stanley says:

But why should the taxpayers of North Carolina pay to teach children wildly inaccurate and offensive information which ill prepares them for their adult lives?

Answer: It can't be any worse than it already is. We currently have a monopoly, which fears competition. The monopoly is dominated by liberal teachers in teachers unions protecting their own interests. As far as preparing children for their adult lives, my view is that advocating a left wing agenda throughout their education hardly prepares them for the world. The documentary film Waiting for Superman is very enlightening on this subject, Chris!