Voucher Bill Off and Running

The battle for vouchers begins.  On January 23rd, Sen. Kelsey filed his bill to provide vouchers to 5,000 students (link via PostPolitics).  The bill would do the following:

provide “opportunity scholarships” to 5,000 low-income students in the bottom 10 percent of schools in the first year. Any unused vouchers could then go to low-income students attending other schools in the counties the low-performing schools are based in.

This criteria would allow vouchers in 10 different counties in Tennessee.  You can find the full text of the bill here.

Much of the negotiation in the coming months will likely take place around the extent of the program, that is, how many vouchers should be available and who can use the program.  For example, should students attending the bottom 5 percent of schools or bottom 10 percent be eligible?  How many students should be able to participate?  And can students outside the bottom 10 percent of schools use vouchers if the quota is not met?

While negotiations continue to take place between the governor and the legislature, the battle outside the legislature is already heating up.  Anti and pro voucher programs such as TREE and the Beacon Center respectively have already held rallies Monday and Tuesday of this week.  School boards, including Shelby County, have sought to hold votes opposing the adoption of this program (the resolution did not passed here in Shelby County tonight).

Much has been said already by all involved, but the quote that stuck with me the most from the past few days came from the pro-voucher camp.  From the Beacon Center President Justin Owen:

“We are witnessing a groundswell of support for school choice that’s unprecedented across the state,” he said. “From Memphis to Nashville, from Knoxville to Chattanooga, we are hearing a resounding plea from parents for our legislators to open the doors to higher quality educational options for their children.“

This quote stuck with me because I believe that it represents a viewpoint about vouchers grounded in ideology but not in reality.  Holding out the opportunity for parental choice sounds great in concept. When done right, school choice programs can empower parents to chose a better school fit for their children.  But quality must still be there for the programs to truly have their intended impact. Owen and other advocates for higher quality educational options would do well to consult my piece from earlier this month outlining the case against vouchers, which is based on the fact that voucher studies have not shown to truly provide a higher quality education for participant than do traditional public schools.  If we’re really interested in supporting school choice alternatives to traditional public schools, passing legislation improve our statewide charter network represents a much more effective option.

Unfortunately it appears that as of now the negotiations are more over how rather than if of school vouchers.  But here’s to hoping that our legislators might just set aside ideology and rhetoric regarding school choice and look at the cold hard facts behind the ideology surrounding school vouchers and school choice in Tennessee.

By Jon Alfuth

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