More than half a dozen state legislatures have recently passed voucher bills that enable families to send their children to schools of choice. Whereas most of the legislative bills apply to children with special needs, statutes in Arizona and Louisiana have a much broader application, embracing students whose local public schools have a D or F performance rating. Oklahoma, Indiana, Florida, and one county in Colorado have passed similar bills. Vouchers are issued to parents, payable directly to schools of choice. Some vouchers cover 100 percent of the tuition at the private schools; other vouchers cover only a portion of the tuition.
Vouchers are becoming an annual topic of debate in most states, as many public schools continue to under-deliver quality education. Currently, almost half of the school age children in America fail to graduate with their peers. That 50% drop-out rate is disturbing to governors, juvenile judges, and local officials, who face the dismal task of dealing with illiterate and unemployable youth with nothing to occupy their hours. Whereas “voucher” has been a “dirty” word in legislative halls during the past three decades, the current condition of an unacceptable percentage of non-graduates has raised “voucher” to a respectable topic of discussion.
The Republican Primary ballot in May contained a resolution to include vouchers on the next Texas legislative session. The resolution received a whopping approval rate! Texas State Representative Sid Miller, of Erath County, actually introduced a voucher bill during the 2011, but the bill was smothered in the debate over redistricting. Oklahoma State Representative Jason Nelson successfully guided a voucher bill through the legislature in 2011.
Interest in school choice has spawned The Summer Institute on School Choice: Implications and Implementation in Oklahoma and Texas, scheduled August 6 -10, 2012 at Camp Victory, near the Oklahoma-Texas border on Lake Texoma. The Summer Institute idea emerged when a consortium of concerned educators, pastors, parents, entrepreneurs, and researchers met near Houston several years ago to discuss options to standard educational programs. The primary purpose of the Summer Institute on School Choice is to familiarize legislators, judges, parents, college students, professors, educators, pastors, and entrepreneurs with current and pending school choice programs. Attendees will be familiarized with such topics as charters, contracts, vouchers, tuition tax credits, for-profit and non-profit schools of choice.
Persons interested in attending or to learn more about school choice may correspond at 325-649-0976 or Learn@pacworks.com. You may also check information at www.pacworks.com (School Choice tab).
Ronald E. Johnson, Director
Summer Institute for School Choice