It is well-known that most, but not all, Democrats oppose school choice programs. In the last week, Democrats have reaffirmed this opposition, even in the case of programs that do not harm or take resources from public schools.
On Tuesday, Senate Education Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Ranking Member Patty Murray, D-Wash., released a bipartisan draft bill to reform No Child Left Behind. Missing from the draft bill was portability for Title I funding, which would allow students in impoverished families to use their federal education funding at any public school of their choice.
Portable funding, also known as “backpack funding” because it follows the child, was included as an option in a draft bill released by Alexander earlier this year and a K-12 education reform bill that passed the House education committee in February.
An important nuance in the plan: States would be allowed, but not mandated, to implement portable federal funding. But allowing some states to use this formula for school choice funding was too much for Democrats. President Obama’s veto threat of the House education bill specifically cited the portability section as a reason to veto the bill. Committed to education reform that might actually pass the Senate and still be a net benefit for students, Alexander didn’t force portability into the draft bill negotiated with Murray.
Another school choice law passed in Nevada with no Democratic support. The State Senate passed a tax credit program Tuesday that would let low-income students use privately donated funds toward private school tuition. Under the legislation, companies subject to Nevada’s modified business tax can receive a tax credit for donating to private school scholarship organizations. The resulting scholarships can only be given to students with a household income at or below 300 percent of the poverty line. For a single mother of two, that line is $60,000 a year.
This plan takes no money away from public education spending, and it helps lower-income students get a better education. Yet Democrats to a man voted against it. This bill passed the Republican-controlled State Senate and State Assembly with no Democratic votes in favor. Republican Gov. Sandoval praised passage of the bill and is expected to sign it.
In Maryland, Republican Gov. Larry Hogan is pushing for a very similar program. Yet the program is facing an uphill battle against the Speaker of the State House, a Democrat, and the Maryland State Education Association.
The outrage in Maryland is even less justified. With $11 billion spent on public education in 2013, Maryland’s $5 million scholarship tax credit program looks like a fly next to an elephant. Similar programs to the ones proposed in Nevada and Maryland already exist in 14 other states, including deep-blue Rhode Island.
Regardless of finances, school choice programs often improve public schools by holding them accountable to parent satisfaction. Whether it’s charter schools, cyber schools or scholarship programs, empowering parents to choose the education that is best for their child is an effective use of taxpayer dollars.
