Commentators John McClaughry and Allen Gilbert offer Two Views of the recent hearings in Montpelier on education funding and school choice. Here’s John McClaughry.
For three hours last week two House committees took testimony on a modest bill to expand parental choice in education. The Vermont Chamber of Commerce and the Vermont Business Roundtable favored it. So did advocacy groups like Vermonters for Better Education and Vermonters for Educational Choice. So did two very appealing parents from Vergennes and Royalton, who came with their children to Montpelier to tell the committee members how much Vermont SOS scholarships to independent schools had meant for their children. But opponents were out in force too. And every opponent but one was a member of the public education establishment.
How refreshing it would be if one superintendent or principal ยฟ just one – would get up and say, “We have worked hard to make our school serve the desires of the parents in our community. We have constantly upgraded academic standards. We have room for 50 more pupils in our school. I know there are more than 50 children who are dissatisfied with the schools they are now forced to attend in adjoining communities. I know they would be thrilled to have the chance to come and flourish in our school. So I say, let the parents choose what’s best for their child, let the money follow the child, and let the child follow her dreams.”
Believe me, you will NEVER hear this speech.
Every one of the public school people who testified had one big fear: that choice would enable some kids to leave their school and go to another school.
And not one of them ยฟ superintendents, principals, teachers, union activists ยฟ seems to see any possibility that the fleeing pupils would choose their school as a better deal.
Our educational establishment has become a fearful public monopoly.
The American experience is that all monopolies and cartels collapse, unless protected by coercive government power. The sooner this fearful, self interested and very costly public monopoly is made to face the invigorating wind of competition, the better off our kids will be ยฟ and the stronger our society.
This is John McClaughry ยฟ thanks for listening.
And I’m Allen Gilbert:
School financing is always a major concern for the Legislature. This year, the House Ways and Means Committee has a new Act 60 “reform” bill. The proposal is sometimes called the “Marron plan,” after its author, committee chair Richard Marron of Stowe, a Republican.
This bill has had a tough time finding legs. That may be because it shifts tax burdens significantly. Second homeowners, businesses, and upper-income Vermonters win. Middle- and lower-income Vermonters lose. The bill is also short $15 million. That would normally be a showstopper in a tight budget year like this.
The House Republican leadership has tried to boost the Marron plan by pairing it with an expansive school choice bill. A joint hearing was held on both bills last week.
The great majority of people who testified opposed the Marron plan. They pointed out that although tax rates might go down in many towns, homeowners’ tax bills would go up because of cuts to income-sensitivity payments. School kids lose when taxpayers aren’t treated fairly. School quality and equity are closely linked.
The choice bill is harder to evaluate. There are no spreadsheets. There is no conclusive evidence that school choice or voucher systems work.
A number of people at the hearing pointed out that Vermont already has a school choice law, to be implemented this fall. Students in Grades 9-12 will be able to attend public schools outside their own district or supervisory union. Tax dollars will stay in the student’s hometown.
We should let that law work, and monitor its effects closely. For now, passing another choice bill is a bad idea. It would drain money from schools at the same time that the Marron proposal would take money out of most taxpayers’ pockets.
Neither bill, whether separate or joined, should pass the House. And that’s what a majority of those testifying last week told legislators.
–Allen Gilbert of Worcester is a writer and parent who is active in education issues. Before him we heard from John McClaughry, President of the Ethan Allen Institute, a Vermont policy research and education organization.