Libertarian ping! To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.
Posted on 12/02/2006 12:50:48 PM PST by wagglebee
In 1955, economist Milton Friedman proposed changing the funding of American schools to provide parents with “a sum equal to the estimated cost of educating a child in a government school, provided that at least this sum was spent on education in an approved school. ... The interjection of competition would do much to promote a healthy variety of schools. It would do much, also, to introduce flexibility into school systems.”
What is the legacy of this “father of school vouchers,” who passed away on Nov. 16? States have found innovative ways to embrace Friedman’s 50-year-old idea. Among the programs around the nation built on Friedman’s ideas are corporate and individual tax credits, special education scholarships and a number of forms of targeted voucher programs.
Tax credit programs, allowing for either corporate or individual deductions on state tax liabilities, are becoming a more popular method of expanding school choice, as they are easy to use and generally avoid the murky waters of “Blaine Amendments.” Blaine Amendments are amendments in many state constitutions (including Georgia) that were created out of anti-Catholic sentiments in the 19th century to prevent state funds from going to any single religious group.
Four states currently have corporate tax credit programs: Arizona, Florida, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, and two (Arizona and Iowa) allow individual tax credit deductions. Under either tax credit program, corporations or individuals donate money to a “School Tuition Organization” (as they are called in Arizona) of their choice, which can be created by individual schools or other nonprofit groups. These “STOs” then turn that money into scholarships for low-income students to use at schools of their choice.
According to the Alliance for School Choice, corporations in Arizona can receive credit for up to $10 million per year (statewide) beginning in 2007-08, and this cap will increase annually by 20 percent. In Florida corporations can receive a dollar-for-dollar credit up to 75 percent of their state income tax liability; the cap for individual corporations is $100,000 in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island; a total statewide cap on donations exists in all four states. In 2005, Arizona’s individual tax credit program generated $30,863,153 in donations to 54 STOs, which paid out 22,552 scholarships averaging $1,370.
Special education is another area where choice is being expanded around the nation. Florida, Ohio, Utah and, of course, Arizona, all have programs enabling special education students to use some form of vouchers to seek out schools that will best serve their unique needs. As of 2003-04, 609 private schools were serving students with disabilities in Florida and 26 were registered to receive similar scholarship students in Utah during the 2006-07 school year. Ohio’s program is targeted at autistic students, and currently serves nearly 500 students.
Several publicly funded voucher programs also exist around the country. The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program is the oldest, created in 1990. Students in this program received scholarships of up to $6,351 in 2005-06, and are able to choose among the city’s traditional public, religious and nonreligious private and charter schools. In 2005, the district reached its previous cap of 15 percent of the district’s enrollment, and the cap has since been raised.
The city of Cleveland, Ohio, has had a similar program since 1995, and beginning in 2006-07, the state of Ohio has enacted the Educational Choice Scholarship Pilot Program (EdChoice) to provide 14,000 scholarships statewide to students who attend schools that have been classified in a state of “Academic Watch” or “Academic Emergency” for three years, with priority going to low-income students.
In 2004, the U.S. Congress passed the District of Columbia School Choice Incentive Act. Under this Act, low-income students in Washington, D.C., are eligible to receive scholarships of up to $7,500 (still significantly less than the average of over $11,000 for D.C. Public Schools) to cover the costs of tuition, school fees, and transportation to a participating school of choice.
Milton Friedman once wrote that “Governments never learn. Only people learn.” Traditional public schools have no built-in incentives to compete with other schools; only to seek out more money and more programs. We learned long ago that incentives matter, and that competition and choice improve our material lives, in terms of lower prices for everything, a stronger economy and an improved standard of living. What could be better for at-risk students than to have several schools competing to help them?
Georgia has not learned to try using any of the above methods to improve our schools. But targeted programs could be extremely useful in helping students who might otherwise be forgotten or ignored. It’s time to finally listen to Milton Friedman, take the initiative, and apply his lessons for helping our most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.
And curtail leftist indoctrination at the same time.
Education/Homeschool Ping
EDUCATION BUMP
Republicans could do better if they would use their power to sue the monopolies in the name of children who are badly served based on their poor performance.
Good thinking.
Wagglebee, I can't find a ping list for schools. Do you know any?
Everyone I pinged in #2 has either an education or a homeschool ping list. Saturdays are sometimes tough to get stuff pinged.
I just heard Sandy Weill talk about a foundation he heads that has 450 schools in the inner cities which are sending 80% of their graduates to college. I missed the name but would like to know more.
Libertarian ping! To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.
For your reading pleasure.
:)
But there are so many kids from families that won't home school them including many broken homes. Yet alot of those parents would definetely send them to a religious school if their money was allowed to be spent that way. It's not the best but far better than a secular public school.
...to the "Another Reason to Homeschool" List. Here's an article about school choice.
This ping list is for the "other" articles of interest to homeschoolers about education and public school. If you want on/off this list, please freepmail me. The main Homeschool Ping List by DaveLoneRanger handles the homeschool-specific articles.
I think it's interesting to note that Mr. Friedman first proposed vouchers in 1955 and to date, a mere handful of cities in the country have actually implemented voucher programs.
In my view, vouchers are the mark of the faux conservative. Since when is redistributing wealth via voucher programs so much better than redistributing wealth via the government schools? Socialism is socialism. What is so wrong with the idea that parents should pay for the education of their own children?
And let's not forget the practical implications of vouchers. As I indicated, only a handful of cities actually have these programs. Vouchers are a great way for faux conservatives to talk the talk about education reform, while remaining secure in the knowledge that nothing is likely to happen as a result.
There is also the issue of government control of the funds in question. There is no such thing as a government education program without strings attached. There will always be conditions attached to the use of the funds. Always. Those conditions are likely manifest themselves in controls over the curriculum. Many conservatives are rightfully concerned about the government schools teaching such things as "Heather has two mommies". How much less we'll like it when private schools start teaching the same thing because it's a condition of their receiving voucher monies.
I agree that by and large, the developments are hopeful. What worries me, though, is that as the existing system continues in it's downward spiral, we'll see a headlong rush to the next government educational "solution." Most likely vouchers and charter schools.
We already have adequate tools available to provide outstanding educations to our children. The hard work is going to be in persuading parents to choose empowerment over welfare dependency.
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