Educational Vouchers: �A Threat to Democracy

• Public Education Partners (PEP) is the leading volunteer advocacy group for public education in Ohio. PEP is a statewide coalition of parents, grassroots citizen groups, school board members, educators, and school administrators that advocate for high quality public education. Traditional public schools have been inundated with education policies dealing with:
• High-stakes testing
• Failing, unaccountable for-profit charter schools
• Expansion of school vouchers
• Drastic budget cuts
• Unfunded mandates

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Anyone Paying Attention – Then and Now? A Story ….

�No Man’s Life, Liberty, or Property Are Safe While the Legislature is in Session.”��- Atrributed to Mark Twain�

Ohio Legislature Authorizes Charter Schools in 1997

What Would Senator Everett Dirksen Say About ECOT?

Or …

It Could Be That the Purpose of the Ohio Legislature is Only to Serve as a Warning for the Fragile State of Democracy …

e pluribus unum

Ohio Constitution

Article VI, Section 2

• The General Assembly shall make such provisions, by taxation, or otherwise, as, with the income arising from the school trust fund, will secure a thorough and efficient system of common schools throughout the state; but no religious or other sect, or sects, shall ever have any exclusive right to, or control of, any part of the school funds of this state.

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Key Features of HB 11:

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• $5,500 for students in grades K-8

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• $7,500 for grades 9-12

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• Provide options for spending voucher dollars beyond tuition, including tutoring, textbooks, advanced placement exams and summer education programs.

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• Bill requires the legislature to increase the per pupil amount for vouchers as the state increases base support for public school aid.

“It’s estimated a bill to provide school vouchers to any student who wants them will cost the state of Ohio more than a billion dollars. That estimate on the so-called Backpack Bill comes from the nonpartisan researchers who analyze bills for state lawmakers.

The Legislative Service Commission fiscal note said under House Bill 11, expenditures would increase $1.13 billion in the first year if all 185,400 students already paying for private schools, for nonchartered nonpublic schools and those being homeschooled ask for vouchers.”

--- The Statehouse News Bureau | By Karen Kasler

Published March 9, 2023

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But with charter schools and vouchers, is the big issue solely about money, or are there other issues?

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What about the use of public funds for private purposes?

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What about lack of transparency and lack of oversight with the use of public funds? ("Where is the accountability to make sure we aren't giving our tax dollars to indoctrinate people into the Nazi ideology?"  -- Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney, Ohio House of Representatives)

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What about e pluribus unum …. Or e unibus plura, et. al.?

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“The concerns that public education advocates have with charter schools are many, including issues with unelected, hand-picked governing boards; management by for-profit national chains; multiple exemptions from state laws; lack of transparency and accountability; widespread accounting and conflict-of-interest scandals; cherry-picking students; and funding taken from already cash-strapped public school districts. But if this litany of concerns wasn’t enough, the issue of the potential of charter schools to undermine community cohesion is emerging as yet another fundamental concern in an age when we have “big forces coursing through modern societies.” (emphasis mine)

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--- Denis Smith: Charters, Vouchers, Individual Choice and Our Strained Social Fabric (2016)

“If an educational system is altered, its transmission of culture will be distorted. The easiest way to break apart a society long-term without using violence is to establish separate educational systems for the groups to be broken apart.”

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Kenneth R. Conklin, Ph.D., Philosopher and Sociologist, as quoted in Vouchers, Individual Choice and Our Strained Social Fabric (2016)

“A society's culture can survive far longer than the lifespan of any of its members, because its educational system passes down the folkways and knowledge of one generation to subsequent generations. A culture changes over time, but has a recognizable continuity of basic values and behavioral patterns that distinguishes it from other cultures. That continuity is provided by the educational system.”

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Kenneth R. Conklin, Ph.D., Education Transmits Culture, 2002

Texas Association of School Boards – Purposes of Public Education

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1. Develop a productive workforce

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• Create an informed citizenry

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• Provide for social mobility

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An Informed Citizenry is the Arsenal of Democracy

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“But of those 121 programs, only two have been approved by voters. The issue has been brought to referendum in various states 16 times since Michigan first voted on it in 1978 and has been rejected 14 times. In 2012, Georgia voters enabled state lawmakers to authorize charter schools, and Washington state voters barely passed a charter school initiative they had rejected twice before.”

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“The next time a school choice program is put before lawmakers, it’s worth asking whether the program would pass if it were put before voters. History shows the answer is usually a resounding “no.”

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Christopher Lubienski, School Choice Proposals Rarely Go Before Voters—And Typically Fail When They Do. March 11, 2023

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In the End, What’s Left for Discussion About Public Education in Ohio?

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“ … system of common schools throughout the state; but no religious or other sect, or sects, shall ever have any exclusive right to, or control of, any part of the school funds of this state”

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Sustain the cultural heritage:

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“If an educational system is altered, its transmission of culture will be distorted. The easiest way to break apart a society long-term without using violence is to establish separate educational systems for the groups to be broken apart.”

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In the End, If the Subject is Really About Choice, What Will Be the Result?

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e pluribus unum

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e unibus plura

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