Late last night Senator Joe Lieberman tacked on a school voucher provision to the second jobs bill that the Senate is currently considering.
The goal of the amendment is to continue the unsuccessful D.C. voucher program. This is a divisive amendment that would be a poison pill on a bill designed to save and create jobs that Americans so desperately need.
Jobs legislation is an essential step toward economic recovery for millions of Americans, and for the entire country. It is irresponsible for Lieberman to hold up this vital legislation in order to push his own political agenda on a completely unrelated issue. Voucher amendments are routinely defeated in Congress, and adding on Lieberman’s proposal jeopardizes an important bill.
The vote will occur sometime today. We need you to call your Senators’ offices (202) 224-3121) to urge them to vote NO on the Lieberman amendment to the American Workers, State and Business Relief Act.
- The DC Voucher program, designed as a five-year pilot, has yielded no evidence of positive academic impact on the students the program was designed to assist. There is no reason to continue to divert scarce resources to a pilot program that has been proven ineffective.
- Vouchers are not real education reform. Pulling 1,200 children out of a system that serves 65,000 doesn’t solve problems – it ignores them. Real reform will put a qualified teacher in every classroom, keep their skills up to date with continuing education, and raise pay to attract and retain the best teachers. Rather than offering an empty promise for a few, we should be ensuring that every child has access to a great public school.
- The evidence is clear and overwhelming: if our intent is to help children succeed, the answer is not a one-size-fits-all magic elixir that has thus far proven only that it does not improve the academic achievement of students attending schools in need of improvement. The answer is to identify and fund proven school improvement strategies.
For more detailed information, please visit NEA’s Legislative Action Center.
‘Until private schools share in the cost of special education they should not receive voucher money.’
Financial waste in the public education system that can be avoided through the use of vouchers will more than offset the costs of mandated public education for those with special needs.
The Kids in the D.C. School Voucher program outperformed the http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=11587 The Department of Education also put out a report after voting was held that also backed these claims. NEA stop lying to your teachers. It won’t help them compete and you will be wiped out.
outperformed the public school district….. my bad
Until private schools share in the cost of special education they should not receive voucher money. General Education funds must be used for special education due to the federal government never fully funding IDEA. Public schools educate all children not just those who pass an entrance exam and have parents fully supporting the education of their child. Public schools must defend themselves with expensive special education lawyers and enormous amounts of paperwork. Private schools don’t have this expense.
Public schools have neither the facilities nor the staff to handle the influx of students that would result if private and parochias schools no longer taught students. Consequently, it is in the public interest to provide vouchers to parents in the same amount funds are made available to pubic schools on a per-student basis. Superior schools would attract greater numbers of students. Competion for academically superior students would benefit all. Parents are the proper people to decide which education opportunities are best for their children. Specialized charter schools may well be better suited for some children in accordance with their respective aptitudes. These, and other, concerns are discussed in my book, The Twilight’s Last Gleaming On Public Education, available via Xlibris.com. Just search their online bookstore by title. You’ll be glad you did.
I am a public school teacher and I would vote yes to vouchers. Parents need more choice and freedom to choose where there children attend school. So we need more vouchers and take the government out of public education they are ruining our schools!