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November 4, 2005
Senate passes voucher plan in hurricane reliefThe Senate on Thursday approved a hurricane relief plan for schools that includes a private school voucher mechanism, and could end up as the largest, costliest voucher program in U.S. history. After rejecting one voucher amendment with a recorded vote, the Senate passed a second voucher amendment with a voice vote only.
NSBA President Joan Schmidt issued this statement Thursday.
The New York Times reports here and Associated Press here.
The plan that the Senate passed was an amended version of a compromise bill worked out between Senators Michael Enzi (R-WY), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA). The plan could provide public and private schools that have enrolled displaced students with up to $6,000 per student (and $7,500 for children with disabilities). However, with $1.2 billion appropriated for reimbursing schools and an estimated 372,000 displaced students nationwide, the per student reimbursement could be as little as $3,225 for the school year. That is well below the national public school per pupil average of nearly $8,400. The reimbursement might however come close to covering educational costs for some religious schools, which do not have to provide all the services that public schools do. The Senate plan may well disproportionately benefit private schools that have enrolled displaced students.
Several weeks ago, Senators Enzi and Kennedy put forward a comprehensive school relief plan without vouchers but the bill stalled when pro-voucher groups, seeing an opportunity to push vouchers, began agitating for inclusion of private school aid. The voucher controversy has held up for weeks much-needed relief for Gulf Coast schools and those around the country that have enrolled displaced students.
NSBA has urged Congress to avoid the voucher stalemate that has held up assistance to schools by following the existing Title I model in which public schools receive federal dollars to provide services to private schools. Such an approach does not require creating a new bureaucracy, does not create a voucher program and maintains public accountability that vouchers lack. Unlike current law, the Senate plan will funnel federal tax dollars to private schools on behalf of displaced students to pay for tuition and fees.
A private school voucher hurricane relief plan was rejected in a bi-partisan vote by the House Education and Workforce Committee last week, but new attempts could be made to add it or a similar plan to the House budget reconciliation bill that is expected to hit the House floor next week.
Posted November 4, 2005 3:48 PM
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