Say NO to Vouchers. Rinse. Repeat.
Friday, CCOSA sent members the following legislative alert:
SENATE BILL 609 & HOUSE BILL 2003: VOUCHERS
There are two bills being considered on Monday by two separate legislative committees that have the potential of expanding VOUCHERS in Oklahoma. Please contact members of both committees and your State Representative and State Senatorand ask that they vote NO on these bills!
SB 609 by Sen. Clark Jolley (R-Edmond) will be heard at 9 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 16, by the Senate Education Committee.
HB 2003 by Rep. Jason Nelson (R-OKC) will be heard at 3 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 16 by the House Common Education Committee.
Both bills would create a voucher program and distribute state funds to parents via “Education Savings Accounts” or ESAs. ESAs would be funded based on a percentage of the student’s WADM. Parents of eligible students would be able to use those funds to pay for personal tutors, homeschooling costs, online classes, sports team fees and many types of therapy, including horseback riding lessons for children with disabilities. They can also spend the money on private school tuition or save some of it for college. ESAs currently exist in Arizona and Florida. In fact, Politico reports that one family from Florida “recently sought to use their child’s funds on and ‘educational vacation’ to Europe.”
Educators and parents should be concerned about this type of voucher program!
ESAs reduce the already limited amount of resources available to public schools and threaten to exacerbate the current teacher shortage!
ESAs do not have a built-in component to ensure that student participants are receiving rigorous or well-rounded educations!
ESAs would cause the OK SDE and/or State Treasurer to hire investigators and auditors to review and audit the private decisions of parents – allowing for government intrusion into private family matters!
ESAs are NOT revenue neutral – in both Florida and Arizona students were able to apply for ESAs even if they had never attended public schools in those states. This meant that both states ended up subsidizing private or home-based educations for children whose families previously covered those costs themselves/
Florida ESA costs as reported by Politico in Feb. 2015: $18.4 million
Arizona ESA costs as reported by Politico in Feb. 2015: $16.3 million
You can read more Education Savings Accounts at Politico.
These bills pretty much contain the same language as the voucher bill that died in committee (by a vote of 14-8) last February. The issue hasn’t changed. A few legislators want to take tax dollars to help a few families send their children to private schools. But wait, there’s more. Rob Miller tears the arguments in favor of vouchers to shreds in his post from yesterday, Education Savings Accounts: Facts, Myths, and Bovine Excrement!
Under bills filed by Rep. Jason Nelson, R-Oklahoma City, and Sen. Clark Jolley, R-Edmond, much of the per-pupil funding used to educate a child could instead be deposited in an individual bank account. Parents would be given a debit card and allowed to use that account to customize their child’s education. The money could be used for a wide range of education options, including tutoring, online courses, private school and other services. Money left unspent could continue to accumulate and be used for future educational needs. (In other words, parents could get a portion of their child’s education funding on an ATM card to use for home schooling, online courses, or private school tuition in their sectarian school of choice.)
Many Oklahoma lawmakers say they support parental involvement in K-12 education(seriously, is there anyone saying they do not want parent involvement in schools). The bills by Nelson and Jolley provide an opportunity to back up that rhetoric with action.
Rob’s post is long and detailed, and very much worth reading.
Also worth reading is the Oklahoma Council on Public Affairs position on school choice:
In case you can’t see the tweet from the OCPA think tank, it says, “The price for more funding #oklaed is tougher standards, genuine accountability and increased parental choice.” How does giving parents the education funding and the choice to do anything under the sun with it amount to genuine accountability? What standards will be in place for the use of the ESAs? Which parents chose A-F Report Cards, EOIs for graduation, a third-grade retention law, and every other reform nightmare of the last few years? I ask because as with the ESAs, none of these laws were hatched in Oklahoma. They are the product of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The Oklahoman and OCPA are just the Oklahoma mouthpieces for this Koch-brothers hobby. It’s all double-speak.
As Dr. Jason James pointed out last night, most families couldn’t get their children into a private school with the voucher described in these bills:
Everything about these bills misleads the public. If you find yourself with some downtime today, given the weather conditions we’re facing, I encourage you to respectfully call your own legislator and state senator, as well as the members of these two committees. Remember that they represent you – not OCPA, not the Oklahoman, and not ALEC.
Senate Education Committee
| Senator | District | Phone | ||
| Senator John Ford . Chair | 29 | 405.521.5634 | fordj@oksenate.gov | |
| Senator Ron Sharp . Vice Chair | 27 | 405.521.5539 | sharp@oksenate.gov | |
| Senator Josh Brecheen | 6 | 405.521.5586 | brecheen@oksenate.gov | @brecheen4senate |
| Senator Earl Garrison | 9 | 405.521.5533 | garrisone@oksenate.gov | @garrisondist9 |
| Senator Jim Halligan | 21 | 405.521.5572 | halligan@oksenate.gov | |
| Senator Clark Jolley | 41 | 405.521.5622 | jolley@oksenate.gov | @ClarkJolley |
| Senator Susan Paddack | 13 | 405.521.5541 | paddack@oksenate.gov | |
| Senator Marty Quinn | 2 | 405.521.5555 | quinn@oksenate.gov | |
| Senator Wayne Shaw | 3 | 405.521.5574 | shaw@oksenate.gov | |
| Senator Jason Smalley | 28 | 405.521.5547 | smalley@oksenate.gov | @smalley101 |
| Senator John Sparks | 16 | 405.521.5553 | sparks@oksenate.gov | |
| Senator Gary Stanislawski | 35 | 405.521.5624 | stanislawski@oksenate.gov | @SenStanislawski |
| Senator Roger Thompson | 8 | 405.521.5588 | thompson@oksenate.gov |
House Common Education Committee
| Representative | District | Phone | ||
| Rep. Ann Coody | 64 | 405.557.7398 | anncoody@okhouse.gov | |
| Rep. Chad Caldwell | 40 | 405.557.7317 | chad.caldwell@okhouse.gov | @chad4ok |
| Rep. Ed Cannady | 15 | 405.557.7375 | ed.cannaday@okhouse.gov | |
| Rep. Dennis Casey | 35 | 405.557.7344 | dennis.casey@okhouse.gov | |
| Rep. Donnie Condit | 18 | 405.557.7376 | donnie.condit@okhouse.gov | @ConditDonnie |
| Rep. Dan Fisher | 60 | 405.557.7311 | dan.fisher@okhouse.gov | @ElectDanFisher |
| Rep. Katie Henke | 71 | 405.557.7361 | katie.henke@okhouse.gov | @KatieHenke |
| Rep. John Paul Jordan | 43 | 405.557.7352 | jp.jordan@okhouse.gov | |
| Rep. Sally Kern | 84 | 405.557.7348 | sallykern@okhouse.gov | @SallyKern |
| Rep. Jeannie McDaniel | 78 | 405.557.7334 | jeanniemcdaniel@okhouse.gov | @JeannieMcDani14 |
| Rep. Michael Rogers | 98 | 405.557.7362 | michael.rogers@okhouse.gov | @rogersmichael21 |
| Rep. Jason Nelson | 87 | 405.557.7335 | jason.nelson@okhouse.gov | @jasonnelsonok |
| Rep. Jadine Nollan | 66 | 405.557.7390 | jadine.nollan@okhouse.gov | |
| Rep. Shane Stone | 89 | 405.557.7397 | shane.stone@okhouse.gov | |
| Rep. Chuck Strohm | 69 | 405.557.7331 | chuck.strohm@okhouse.gov | |
| Rep. Todd Thomsen | 25 | 405.557.7336 | todd.thomsen@okhouse.gov | @ToddThomsen |
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