Very often, pausing to listen to others with differing views than ours provides much needed insight into the plans of our government and influencers. By listening to Dr. Lauren Fox from the Public School Forum of North Carolina in episode #227 of their Education Matters podcast, we get a good picture of where vouchers will likely lead our Tennessee system if passed in 2024. This highlighted podcast episode reflects the perspective of public-school advocates in North Carolina. North Carolina’s history of vouchers beginning in 2013 offers us a crystal ball glimpse into where educational bureaucrats and policy makers will take the “no strings” vouchers of 2024’s legislative session and run with them in 2025 and beyond.
Background: North Carolina started vouchers in 2013 and have adapted the regulations over the ensuing years as noted in this podcast, particularly in terms of who is eligible for the program. Like other state voucher programs, parents can elect to remove their children from their local public school and receive a specified amount of money to use for private school enrollment.
Dr. Fox brings up the concerns of public-school advocates in regards to how vouchers are being implemented in North Carolina. Such advocates are working to address their concerns and offer insights into the directions that public policy surrounding school vouches can go after initial legislation is passed. Whether or not we agree with her concerns as legitimate is less important than the fact that the education establishment wants accountability for these programs to fix what they perceive as problems. If they get their way, these vouchers become snares for the schools that accept the funds and the students who use them once such “accountability” is added.
You can listen to the podcast link below on their website or various podcasting services, but here is a summary of their concerns which we need to be aware of. (My immediate focus is on the first half of podcast #227, interviewing Dr. Lauren Fox, Senior Director of Policy and Research from Public School Forum of North Carolina.)
Private schools accepting voucher money are only required to administer and report standardized test scores if they accept over a specified number of voucher students. She advocates for greater transparency than the current 3% of private schools in North Carolina that currently have to comply with this requirement. She would prefer that all schools accepting voucher money would have to administer state standardized tests and report.
- Implications: If these views prevail, private schools accepting voucher funds would be required to administer the same state standardized tests as public schools. These are the same tests that many parents wish to forgo due to their being poor predictors of performance as well as being used for data mining of our children’s preferences. Public schools collect and sell data gathered from these standardized tests to company’s without parental consent. Many concerned parents would prefer to keep their children’s information private.
While it is only mentioned once in a brief comment, she seems bothered that parochial, i.e. religious schools, are receiving state voucher funding. Later, she expresses concerns that private schools can deny a student application for a variety of reasons that might be considered discriminatory. She prefers that schools not be allowed to discriminate in any way based on worldviews or sexuality.
- Implications: If others who share such views with Dr. Fox had their way, private schools accepting voucher money would not be allow to refused acceptance of students whose religious views contrasted with the school’s principles. Accepting public funds means accepting government rules regarding discrimination.
Dr. Fox provides some numbers in regards to North Carolina’s proposed changes to its voucher program. The estimate is for a cost of 4 billion dollars over 10 years, meaning about 400 million dollars per year. She explains that currently voucher funds are only available if the student was previously enrolled in public school, but the proposed new proposal would be open to all regardless of prior enrollment. She describes a hypothetical situation in which ½ of the students receiving vouchers came from public schools, thus shifting 200 million per year out of the public school system. She sees this as very detrimental to public schools, especially in rural areas.
- Implications: While the debate over whether more money poured into education does or does not actually improve educational outcomes will rage on, the reality of the large sums of money at stake is unavoidable. With that much money on the table, teacher’s union, local school districts, and many other interests will be clamoring for a piece of the pie. Not all of these will be looking out for the best interests of the children. This will make a great excuse for more governmental oversight. Government bureaucracy will be needed to ensure it is spent wisely. Costs will go up and more regulations will make it more expensive for private schools to participate. Private school costs will go up just like higher education costs increased with the federal government getting involved in college loans.
Bullets:
Public-school advocates like Dr. Lauren Fox from the Public School Forum of North Carolina do not hide their concerns or their intentions for shaping school voucher policies in their states. If such public-school advocates get their way in shaping the implementation of school voucher programs, we could see the following adverse effects on our children in the wider educational system.
- Whereas only public schools are currently required to administer and to report standardized testing, all schools accepting vouchers could be compelled to do so. This standardized testing system then erodes the privacy of our children through its data reporting systems.
- Whereas religiously oriented schools now have freedom to deny acceptance based on religious viewpoints, all such schools accepting vouchers could be restricted from continuing this practice. No longer could religious views or views regarding sexuality be a legitimate basis for denying admittance to a school
- Whereas private schools currently operate without publicly reported oversight but instead as private businesses, all such schools accepting vouchers could be compelled to report not only test scores but other financial transactions. Besides the privacy issues involved, the costs of such reporting and the oversight it entails would increase the costs of private school operations higher.
While those promoting school vouchers in Tennessee will attempt to deny these realities, the same forces are at work in Tennessee as in North Carolina. With the dollar amounts involved in these programs, we always find strings. At first, the strings may be almost imperceptible to the undiscerning eye. Over time, the faint fishing lines become thicker and thicker, first becoming ropes, then becoming chains. The educational establishment will keep working until the private schools and all their students are chained to the same broken systems and regulations under which the failing public-schools now operate.
Now is the time to reject the school voucher system. We must not take the bait if we hope to avoid the eventual assimilation of the private school system into the public system. Take a few minutes to contact your legislators or those on the education committees now to let them know your opposition to this proposed legislation.
Senate Education Committee:
https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/CommitteeInfo/SenateComm.aspx?ga=113&committeekey=630000
House Education Committee:
https://www.capitol.tn.gov/house/archives/107GA/committees/education.html
Education Mattes Podcast. Public School Forum of North Carolina. Accessed 12/3/23. Go to this site and choose episode #227.
Recent Comments