Opportunity lost in voucher failure
The 108th Tennessee General Assembly adjourned Thursday without passing a tuition voucher bill that would have given a limited number of students in the state’s worst-performing public schools a chance at a better education.
The bill’s failure was an especially hard blow to some parents and students within the city of Memphis, which has scores of failing public schools. Those parents and students have been denied, at least for the next school year, another choice toward receiving a quality education.
The voucher legislation was expected to pass this session. It was supported by Republican Gov. Bill Haslam and a host of education reform proponents. The bill limited vouchers in school year 2014-2015 to 5,000 students statewide, increasing to 20,000 in four years, where the number would be capped. Students must qualify for free or discounted lunches and attend a public school in the bottom 5 percent of academic performance. Parents could use the vouchers to send their children to private schools.
The bill, for a number of reasons, ran into trouble in the House, where some voucher supporters wanted a broader bill encompassing more children and schools. Since state education spending per student follows the student, critics worried that vouchers would hurt school districts financially. And, some people just think it is plain wrong to spend public tax dollars to support religious-based private schools.
Those arguments all have some validity, but should not overshadow the importance of making sure poor children have an opportunity to attend a good school, as opposed to lingering in a failing school that might take years to transform.
Vouchers would be just one of the arrows in the school-reform quiver. Everything starts with making sure preschoolers are ready to begin first grade. That starts with parents and is aided by quality prekindergarten programs. Having excellent teachers in every classroom is a must. The state’s elected leaders have not garnered the political will to expand pre-K programs, but the effort to get excellent teachers into classrooms is well under way.
Poor students deserve a shot at a better education while reform efforts take hold. Vouchers would allow them to take that shot.