The Indiana House is moving closer to a system of private school vouchers for lower income families in Indiana:
A House committee is expected to vote this morning on a controversial plan to let lower-income parents use tax dollars to pay for private school tuition for their children.
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The proposal, which is among the education reforms backed by Gov. Mitch Daniels, would allow families whose incomes are low enough that their children qualify for free or reduced-price lunches to get a voucher equivalent to 90 percent of the money that would have gone to their local school district. That's capped at $4,500 for elementary school students, although there is no cap for Grades 9-12.
Families whose incomes are a bit higher -- up to 200 percent of the level at which free and reduced-price lunches are available -- would get half of the money that otherwise would have gone to their local school district.
The Indiana Department of Education said that means a family of four could earn up to about $42,000 a year and receive the voucher worth 90 percent of their public school tuition, and it could make more than $42,000 to about $84,000 a year to qualify for the 50 percent voucher.
I am all for this. It should be self-evident that we are past the point of simply funding public schools just because we are supposed to. In an era of belt tightening, even public schools must be accountable to the tax payers and must be exposed to competition. It doesn’t go as far as I might like, I would be all in favor of parents being given a full voucher for tuition at either a public or private school of their choice and let them decide where every nickel goes but I recognize that there is a overall social benefit for providing universal schooling. So I am a big supporter of this idea because it puts more choice in the hands of parents, it takes more power away from teachers unions and it helps enhance a culture of competition among schools, public and private, to ensure that the best schools get the most students.
As I watch the debate about vouchers, I have a question. What about homeschooling?
Except in the most extreme wings of the education establishment, homeschooling is recognized as a legitimate method of educating children. Homeschooling is legal in all 50 states and colleges are generally recognizing the value of home education and enrolling homeschooled students on a regular basis. Once a fringe movement, homeschooling has become more or less mainstream. When I tell people we homeschool our kids, they are generally pretty accepting of it. But when it comes to the voucher system, homeschoolers are left out in the cold. That really causes a problem with the notion of real school choice when one of the three main methods of educating children is left out of the funding debate.
Just as parents who choose to send their kids to private schools should be able to divert at least a portion of their tax revenue to offset the cost of private school tuition, parents who homeschool their children should also be able to get a “refund” of some of their taxes that go to support public schools. I understand that a sizeable portion of the property taxes we pay on our home go to fund public schools that my children get no direct benefit from. I may not be happy about that but that is part of the cost of choosing to educate our kids at home. If the goal is to make educational choice more affordable for Indiana families, it certainly seems reasonable that we should get a tax credit to offset the cost of educating our kids at home. Homeschooling requires more than glue and macaroni. There are books, videos, curriculum, computer programs, basic school materials that cost money, lots of money. If I have to pay for computers for public schools, why shouldn’t I get to retain a portion of my tax dollars to pay for computers that my own children will use? The most important thing to remember is that every penny that goes to a public school originates in the pocket of an Indiana family. This is first and foremost our money and we, and not the public school establishment, should have final say over how those funds are spent.
If Indiana is serious about excellence in education, we must pursue every possible educational method and seek healthy competition among the competing options. A monopolistic public school system has been failing children for a long time and it is high time that the public school system be required to justify the money it receives and when it doesn’t, those funds that come from the pockets of Indiana families should be reallocated by the people who know our children the best, their parents.
Our children, our money, our choice.
3 comments:
"This is first and foremost our money and we, and not the public school establishment, should have final say over how those funds are spent."
Yes, but once you start taking public-funded vouchers, then the "we" becomes everyone else. The public will have a say in how you spend their money (and they should). I think this would also be an issue for tax credits, because it is often the case that the majority of households paying property taxes are not using the public school services - but the majority believe that "everyone benefits" from them. So, for the tax credit to be "fair", the public will tell you what it can/can't be used for - which will of course closely resemble the public's existing model of education - which you probably don't want. To me, the real battle to win is to get the general public to come to grips with whether it is even their financial responsibility to educate someone else's children, how much are they paying for that and are they getting their money's worth.
For reference, in my county in TN, preK-12 spending accounts for 51% of the county government tax revenue (property taxes and local portion of sales tax). At the state level, education spending (preK-college) accounts for 45% of the tax revenue. Our local schools spend $8,300 per student per year and there are multiple private schools in the area in the $4,500 range. Like most states (and churches?), 75-80% of the spending is salaries/pensions/retirement/benefits. About 17% comes from federal taxes. I believe this is why public charter schools and vouchers never get the full amount the local public system spends, because the state/local doesn't have it to give.
So, for me a 51% property tax credit would translate to about $450 per year. Not worth the trouble to bring freedom into question. The vouchers would be harder to turn down, but they are WAY more money than we spend (even at 1/10 price of what the public school spends). And I would still be asking my neighbors to pay for my children's education at the threat of losing their home to tax liens.
Vouchers are the way in which government gets more control. Once any benefit, whether vouchers or tax credits, is taken there are plenty of strings attached.
I believe all education needs to be privatized. If a teacher would contract with parents for teaching the children, the cost of education would be cut tremendously. If there should be some hardship, I know of many people who would help out a young person who desires to get an education rather than one being forced on them. The tax reductions given to people would help them to be charitable. The students and the teachers would then have to be accountable to whoever is paying the bill. That puts all education, whether public or private or homeschool on the same level.
Eric and banner,
That is a legitimate concern. I would not trade our freedom to homeschool in Indiana without government interference for voucher money.
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