By WAYNE GREENE Senior Writer on Apr 24, 2008, at 8:55 AM Updated on 4/24 at 8:55 AM
WAYNE'S WORLD
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The state House killed a bill Wednesday that would have allowed rich people to create their own school voucher program.
The bill had the support of the usual anti-public education crowd and legislators whose district include the most academically challenged Tulsa schools.
The bill would have given tax credits to income taxpayers who pay the private school tuition of low-income students who live in areas served by at-risk schools.
That's a voucher system in disguise, and it's wrong. Instead of the state sending the school funding with the student in the traditional voucher method, the bill would have let individual taxpayers do it.
The bill was flawed on two levels:
First, it would have robbed the state of revenue, most of which would otherwise have been sent to public schools. So, while it arguably would have improved the lot of a select few students who are chosen by their rich benefactors to escape from at-risk schools, it would have intensified the damage to the vast majority of students left behind.
Second, state law already has a perfectly valid public school escape clause for students in at-risk schools. If your child is in an at-risk school you can transfer to any other school in the district that is not at risk AND the school district has to provide the transportation costs. Further, if the school stays on the at-risk list, the district also must provide tutoring for students whose parents ask for it.
So, the backers aren't really interested in providing an escape option for students in at-risk schools. That's already on the books. Their motivation is to find a way to get tax money to private schools.
Of course, those private schools maintain the right to reject students they don't want or don't think they can help. So, they can cherry pick academically and athletically talented kids, and leave the rest behind.
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