Tag: school vouchers

Louisiana’s Supreme Court rules funding vouchers unconstitutional

May 7, 2013 at 1:36 pmCategory:Uncategorized

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In a 6-1 decision, Louisiana’s highest court ruled today that Gov. Bobby Jindal’s funding mechanism for his private school tuition voucher program is unconstitutional.

Taking public money that is designated for public schools and using it to pay for private school tuition through Jindal’s voucher program goes against the state’s constitution, said the high court.

Reportedly the LA Supreme Court also ruled that the funding formula was not legally approved last year. The state legislature passed a resolution, instead of a law, to appropriate funds for the program after the deadline for introducing legislation, rendering it invalid.

Here in North Carolina, Rep. Stam recently introduced legislation for a state voucher program that would siphon $90 million dollars from public schools to private institutions over the next two years.

The bill, HB 944, “Opportunity Scholarship Act,” is expected to be heard in committee in the coming weeks.

Check out NC Policy Watch’s story about the myriad ways in which voucher programs can have unintended consequences.

New poll results: Lawmakers headed the wrong way on education

May 6, 2013 at 11:47 amCategory:Uncategorized

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The good people at Action NC and Progress NC are out with some new poll results courtesy of Public Policy Polling. The poll asked North Carolina voters four questions about education policy during the last week of  April. Here’s the Action NC release:

Majority of NC voter oppose school vouchers, limiting pre-K
New poll finds strong opposition to many forms of education disinvestment currently under consideration at General Assembly

Raleigh – More than 60 percent of North Carolina voters oppose a school voucher plan currently under consideration at the General Assembly, according to a new poll just released by Action NC and Progress NC. Read More…

US Department of Justice rules state voucher programs may not discriminate against students with disabilities

May 3, 2013 at 12:53 pmCategory:Uncategorized

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In a letter released this week, the U.S. Department of Justice affirmed that Wisconsin must ensure that students with disabilities who seek to attend or are currently enrolled in private schools through the state’s taxpayer-funded voucher program “do not encounter discrimination on the basis of their disabilities.” Hat tip to Diane Ravitch for highlighting this news today on her blog.

“The state cannot, by delegating the education function to private voucher schools, place students beyond the reach of the federal laws that require Wisconsin to eliminate disability discrimination in its administration of public programs,” DOJ officials wrote in the letter to Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Tony Evers. The letter goes on to clearly spell out how Wisconsin must make efforts to ensure that their school choice program comply with Title II federal regulations.

The ACLU and other Wisconsin-based organizations filed a complaint with DOJ in 2011 alleging that students with disabilities were discriminated against in Milwaukee’s voucher schools.

The ruling will have a far-reaching impact as voucher programs in 20 states will be required to monitor their programs for compliance with federal laws protecting the disabled.

North Carolina is on track to introduce its own voucher program in the state with Rep. Stam’s HB 944, Opportunity Scholarship Act. The bill has not yet been heard in committee, but if and when it is, it seems certain that lawmakers will be asked to consider the plan’s potential conflicts with Title II federal regulations, given this week’s ruling. As it stands now, there is no mention of students with disabilities in the bill’s eligibility requirements.

School voucher bill filed, would channel taxpayer funds to private institutions

April 16, 2013 at 7:59 amCategory:Uncategorized

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House lawmakers filed a bill Monday that would siphon $90 million dollars from public schools to private institutions over the next two years.

Reps. Bryan, B. Brown, Brandon and Hanes filed HB 944, “Opportunity Scholarship Act,” which would create scholarship grants for eligible students in an amount not to exceed $4,200 per year, per student.

Eligible students would be those who reside in a household with an income level not in excess of two hundred twenty-five percent (225%) of the federal poverty level to qualify in 2013-14. That requirement would rise to 300 percent the following year.

Rep. Paul Stam, who has introduced similar legislation in the past, gave an exclusive interview to the Carolina Journal last week, indicating that he would file the voucher bill. *He is a secondary sponsor of the bill.

Proponents of the bill say that providing opportunity scholarships (also frequently referred to as vouchers or neovouchers) to students gives them a choice – in this case, the chance to attend a private institution that may better serve their individual needs.

Critics point to the fact that taxpayer money should stay within the public school system, and once that money is directed to private schools, there is no accountability to ensure that students are getting a high quality education.

In addition, vouchers frequently do not cover the full cost of attending a private school, so the low-income students for which the vouchers are intended are never able to have a true choice when it comes to their education. Many who take advantage of the vouchers are those who often have the means to go to a private school anyway.

According to WRAL.com, the bill would allow a family of four earning up to $53,000 to apply for tuition aid in 2013-14, and that would rise to $71,000 the following year.

Look for in-depth analysis on how vouchers work–and who benefits from them–from the NC Justice’s Center’s Matt Ellinwood and Cedric Johnson this week.

*This post was corrected to indicate that Rep. Stam is a secondary sponsor of the bill. We previously reported he was not a sponsor of the legislation. We regret the error.

Vouching for vouchers

April 10, 2013 at 3:16 pmCategory:Uncategorized

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Another day, another giant backward step for the future of North Carolina. This morning we got the conformation of what we’ve been expecting to see for months now – North Carolina will be the latest state to consider school vouchers.

In an “exclusive interview” with the John Locke Foundation, Paul Stam laid out his $90 million plan to bleed our public schools of money while enriching corporations, all at the expense of our children.  And his reasoning for this program? Why, to save money, of course.

It now costs state and local governments $6,745 to educate a typical child in public school, and $8,414 when including federal allocations, according to Stam. The average opportunity scholarship is expected to be $3,990, according to a fiscal analysis memorandum by the legislative Fiscal Research Division.

Keep in mind that North Carolina is already near the bottom (two from the bottom, actually) of what we spend on a per-pupil basis. Stam’s proposal would further reduce our spending by more than $17 million for the 2013-2014 school year, and more than $25 million in the next school year, according to the fiscal analysis.  Read More…