- IN THIS REPORT
Readers will find a round-up of state-level school choice activities, an update on privately-funded choice programs, a sampling of Blum Center and other organizations' activity, and a profound comment on America's educational problem, seen 36 years ago.
ARIZONA
In April of this year two parental choice proposals were
narrowly defeated in Arizona — a pilot education voucher package supported
by Rep. Lisa Graham and a proposal from Sen. Bev Hermon to allow the distribution
of education vouchers only upon approval by local school boards. (See Educational
Freedom Report #8.) Despite these defeats, there remains a great deal
of citizen support for educational choice in Arizona. On May 25, the Goldwater
Institute released the preliminary results of a poll indicating that 76%
of Arizona voters favor genuine choice via education vouchers. Among
those favoring choice, some specified the type of program they would prefer.
For example, 3% of all respondents preferred to restrict choice to low-income
families. Nonetheless, as Mr. Jeffry Flake, Executive Director of the Goldwater
Institute observed, "This poll confirms that there is overwhelming grassroots
support for choice." (05/25 press release) The survey, conducted by Arizona
Opinion and Political Research, sought the views of 500 registered voters.
According to the Goldwater Institute, survey data will be made available
later this summer.
Meanwhile, on June 17 the Arizona Legislature concluded a special, three-day session called by Governor Fife Symington. During this session legislators approved a $12.5 million education reform bill, which was immediately signed into law by the governor. Among other things, the bill expands Arizona's open enrollment policies and authorizes a new program allowing private groups to create charter schools. Up to 25 new charter schools may be established each year. In the June 26 Arizona Republic Gov. Symington writes, "We are miles ahead of where we were at this time last year, but education reform is far from complete." Gov. Symington, a well-known supporter of genuine choice in education, regards the recent successful education reform effort as a path to more comprehensive choice. Earlier, he promised "The school voucher issues will be faced once again in the 1995 legislative session. Every year the support has been increasing." (Phoenix Gazette, 06/14/94; Arizona Republic, 06/19/94, 06/26/94)
GEORGIA
On June 27, three Atlanta families filed a class-action
law suit in Fulton Superior Court charging that many of Georgia's public
schools — especially those located in predominantly low-income and minority
neighborhoods — are failing to provide an "adequate" education as required
by the state constitution. (Atlanta Constitution, 06/28/94) The
families are seeking to obtain education vouchers from the state which
would afford them real educational choices, enabling them to enroll their
children in private schools if they wish. The education vouchers sought
in the law suit would be equal to the average amount spent per pupil by
the local public school district and by the state. They could be used to
pay tuition at any legally recognized private school. Mr. Glenn Delk, an
Atlanta lawyer and advocate of choice in education, is attorney for the
families. Mr. Delk has frequently observed that education vouchers are
commonly used in Georgia to promote educational choices and opportunities
on the pre-elementary and post-secondary levels. Only in regard to grade
schools and high schools, he notes, are education vouchers not provided.
(Atlanta Constitution, 06/28/94; Atlanta Journal, 06/28/94)
MARYLAND
Maryland state Representative and Republican gubernatorial
candidate Ellen R. Sauerbrey has made comprehensive choice in education
a significant part of her campaign platform. Rep. Sauerbrey, who is the
minority leader in the state House, has proposed giving local school districts
the option of participating in an education voucher program that she would
support as governor. Under her proposal, participation by a given district
would depend on approval by the district residents or the school board.
Rep. Sauerbrey has suggested that $2,000 would be a reasonable amount to
assign to each education voucher, although that figure is open to change,
she notes. The vouchers could be used to pay tuition at any private school.
She also supports charter school programs and various forms of public school
choice. (Baltimore Morning Sun, 06/04/94)
NEW JERSEY
Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler's efforts to promote
a comprehensive educational choice proposal for his city received a major
boost from two recent state-wide polls demonstrating broad support for
the proposal among New Jersey voters.
The earlier of the two polls was commissioned by School Children First, a political action group organized to support the proposal and based in Trenton, N.J. The poll, conducted by Fabrizio, McLaughlin & Associates between May 17 and 22, sought the opinions of 1,000 registered voters selected at random from groupings arranged to reflect actual voter demographics in New Jersey. The results indicate that 63% of New Jersey voters overall favor the proposal for genuine choice in Jersey City, while only 26% oppose the effort. Among minority groups, favorable responses climbed even higher: 64% of Hispanics and 72% of African-Americans support the proposal. (Record, 06/09/94)
A second, independently-conducted survey yielded similar responses. A Record/Eyewitness News Poll found that 60% of New Jersey adults support the effort, with 33% opposed. Seven per cent of respondents either had no opinion or said their opinion would depend on a variety of factors. Among respondents under 30 years of age, 70% favor the proposal; and among those surveyed who have children under 18 years of age, 65% support the effort. The survey also indicated that 64% of African-Americans favor the proposal. The Record/ Eyewitness News Poll was conducted between June 10 and 14. It surveyed the opinions of 1,089 New Jersey adults, among whom 806 were registered voters. (Record, 07/04/94)
Responding to the survey results, Mayor Schundler observed, "It's abundantly clear that the people of New Jersey support our attempt to implement serious education reform in Jersey City. The only question that remains is how hard the [teachers union] is going to twist the arms of legislators to prevent serious educational reform and innovation in order to maintain its unaccountable monopoly." (Record, 06/09/94) The educational choice package, which Mayor Schundler helped to develop, includes provisions for education grants that could be used to pay tuition at any local independent school. It also would authorize the creation of charter schools and permit choice among local public schools. (See Educational Freedom Report #6 for further information.) A draft of the proposal has been submitted to Education Commissioner Leo Klagholz. His office is expected to issue a report, some time in August or early September, to state legislators and to Governor Christine Whitman, who has already declared her support for the effort. The earliest a school choice program could begin operation in Jersey City would be the 1995-'96 school year.
School Children First was recently organized to develop greater support for the Jersey City proposal and to combat efforts by the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA), the state's largest teachers union, to de-rail the plan. The NJEA is raising $10 million, through a $50 surcharge to union members, to lobby against choice in education and Governor Whitman's budget proposals. (Record, 06/09/94, 07/04/94) Those who would like to learn more about School Children First may contact Mr. Daniel J. Cassidy at (201) 547-5576.
PUERTO RICO
This past April a San Juan Superior Court judge ruled
that Law 71, which created an education voucher program permitting children
from low-income families to attend the public or private school of their
choice, violates Puerto Rico's constitution. (See Educational Freedom
Report #9.) This decision is currently being appealed to the Puerto
Rico Supreme Court. Meanwhile the Puerto Rican Senate approved a set of
amendments to Law 18, the community schools law, in order to satisfy the
demands of teachers groups. Law 18, which has so far transformed 112 public
schools into autonomous community schools, now will require that those
community schools utilize the Education Department's teacher seniority
lists when hiring new teachers. The amendments also eliminate mandatory
interviews for these teachers. (San Juan Star, 06/17/94) By September
the number of community schools is expected to reach 240. (San Juan
Star, 06/15/94)
Governor Rosselló made an administrative change in May when he asked Education Secretary Torres to step down. On June 2, the governor filled the post by naming Victor Fajardo as the new Education Secretary. Mr. Fajardo, a former State Superintendent, was sworn in on June 15. (San Juan Star, 06/15/94)
PRIVATELY FUNDED CHOICE
PROGRAMS
Since the summer of 1991, when Golden Rule Insurance
Co. announced the launching of an Indianapolis school choice program, 10
other privately funded choice programs have begun operation in cities across
the country, including, e.g., Atlanta, Milwaukee and San Antonio. Recently,
the inauguration of two new programs — one in Los Angeles and the other
in Houston — has been announced. Both the Children's Educational Opportunity
Foundation of Southern California and the Houston Children's Educational
Opportunity Foundation will begin disbursing education grants to children
from low-income families for the fall, 1994, school term. Education grants
in both programs will cover 1/2 the cost of tuition in any local private
or public school, to a maximum of $1,300 per grant. The CEO Foundation
of Southern California expects to provide education grants to 1,000 children
this year, while the Houston CEO Foundation anticipates that between 100
and 350 children will receive its grants this year, depending on its success
in raising additional funds. (Los Angeles Times, 06/15/94; Houston
Post, 07/07/94)
Recent Acquisitions
¨Jeanne Allen and her
colleagues at the Center for Education Reform, 1001 Connecticut Avenue,
NW, Suite 920, Washington, D.C. 20036, (202) 822-9000, FAX (202) 822-5077,
continue to develop and provide excellent evidence and analysis, highly
useful to clear thinking on educational issues. The latest addition to
this collection is an updated and revised "Nine Lies About School Choice:
Answering the Critics." This is a very useful anti-smoke screen device
which can be of great help to people on the front lines of the school choice
effort. In addition, Jeanne expects the Center for Education Reform to
publish The School Reform Handbook during fall, 1994. A pre-publication
excerpt makes plain that the Handbook will be very handy, indeed.
¨The Blum Center has received from Mr. Chuck Lewis of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia a state-wide analysis of Pennsylvania State House Bill 1655, a comprehensive choice proposal which incorporates the plan known as the "GI Bill for Kids." The study concludes that a comprehensive school choice plan, which would include private schools as choice alternatives, would save the public school districts $41 million. This study was provided to Mr. Lewis by Mark Zabierek of Public Strategies, Inc.
Congratulations to Nicholas and Barbara Freres, happy parents of Nicholas Marcellus, born June 10, 1994! Little Nicholas is the latest addition to our broad-based coalition of educational choice supporters in Wisconsin, and we wish him and his parents the best!!!
Organizations
¨An educational consulting
firm has recently been created by long-time choice analyst and advocate
Denis P. Doyle. It is called Doyle Associates — Managing Education Change.
For further information, contact Mr. Doyle at 110 Summerfield Road, Chevy
Chase, MD 20815, (301) 986-9350, FAX (301) 907-4959.
¨We call attention to MO-CAPE, taking a leadership role for school choice in Missouri. MO-CAPE was formed in 1978 as a state affiliate of CAPE, the Council for American Private Education. It is registered and incorporated with the state as a not-for-profit organization. The regular membership is composed of administrators and leaders from Missouri organizations, associations or denominations which represent private elementary and secondary schools and which satisfy the requirements of CAPE. For further information about MO-CAPE and its upcoming 14th Annual Legislators' Dinner at which the Blum Center's Director will be the keynote speaker, please contact Mr. Russ Butler, Executive Director, 1911 Merlin Drive, Jefferson City, MO 65101, (314) 636-8659.
¨Also, an item of note from our organizational files: Citizens for Educational Freedom (CEF) is celebrating its 35th Anniversary. CEF will be holding its gala banquet and conference, "The School Choice Movement: Past, Present and Future" on Friday, September 30 - Saturday, October 1 at the St. Louis Airport Hilton. Saturday's keynote speaker will be Mayor Bret Schundler of Jersey City, N.J., and his presentation will be called "Saving the Cities Through School Choice." For additional information contact Mae or Martin Duggan, 12571 Northwinds Drive, St. Louis, MO 63146, (314) 434-4171. Our heartiest congratulations to CEF members and leaders for their dedication to freedom of choice in education for thirty-five years!
Blum Center Activities
¨At last, the Blum Center
has a new e-mail address on Internet: "BLUMCENTER@vms.csd.mu.edu".
We encourage you to send state legislative information, organizational
activities, publication synopses, news releases, etc., to this address
if you have the capacity to do so.
¨The Blum Center's forthcoming handbook, Paths to Parental Freedom and School Choice, will be available later this fall at an estimated cost of $10/copy, plus $3 for shipping and handling. We expect to give more information about Paths, and a preview of its contents, in the October 21 Report.
¨The Blum Center now has a two-part packet available, called "Materials Originated by the Blum Center," which includes a topical listing of articles and pamphlets done by the Center's Director, as well as an index to the Educational Freedom Report. Copies are available upon request.
A PENETRATING VOICE
FROM THE PAST
In 1958 Fr. Virgil C. Blum, S.J., (after whom this Center
is named) authored Freedom of Choice in Education (New York, N.Y.:
Macmillan Co.). This was (and is) a splendid case for parental freedom
via tax credits, founded on a true understanding of religious freedom
rights. Will Herberg, renowned Jewish theologian and social philosopher,
and author of Judaism and Modern Man, and Protestant, Catholic,
Jew among many other works, was pleased to write a Foreword for Father
Blum's book. There follow just the first two paragraphs of that Foreword.
Readers will note the stunning clarity with which Professor Herberg, 36
years ago, saw the essential problems of educational finance monopoly (EFM)
with which we continue to grapple. In turn, this will remind us that perception
alone of EFM's faults is not enough, and must be followed by effective
action to dislodge it. Will Herberg:
"Pluralism is the mark of every open society. American society has its pluralistic diversity built into its institutions at every level of life. In economics, in politics, in culture, we are proud of our pluralism, and of the corresponding freedom it assures. There is one field, however, in which pluralism seems to arouse the suspicion, even the resentment, of a considerable number of liberal Americans, and that is the field of education. In education, especially in education at the lower levels, many Americans otherwise committed to diversity seem to feel that uniformity is mandatory, and that pluralism is "divisive" and "undemocratic." In this area, government monopoly, otherwise so repugnant to the American genius, is felt to be right and proper, for it is held to be the "natural" function of the government to educate the rising generation so as to assure the unity and solidarity of the nation. Nongovernmental education must, of course, be tolerated; but because of the threat to democracy alleged to be inherent in it, it is to be denied public support beyond the bare legal recognition guaranteed by the Supreme Court in the celebrated Oregon decision.
"There are many reasons for this puzzling anomaly in the American liberal consciousness, and many explanations that are put to use as rationalizations in the liberal mind. It does not seem to be realized, however, that such an attitude is, in fact, profoundly illiberal since it not only discourages pluralism and diversity in a crucial area of our culture, but also substantially denies freedom of choice in a field where, above all, freedom of choice would seem to be desirable and necessary. Parents may, indeed, set up their own schools for their children, or delegate the responsibility for doing so to their church, and if these schools meet the standard requirements set for public education they are entitled to full recognition under the law. But parents who choose to take advantage of their right are heavily penalized, since under present practices they can receive only minimal aid from the community, and this despite the fact that in providing educational facilities these schools are obviously performing a public service of the first order. Instead of welcoming nongovernmental schools, when properly accredited, as a valuable element in the cultural diversity we all profess to desire, we tend rather to frown upon them as somehow a threat to our way of life, and to refuse them the full and open recognition that they would seem to deserve in view of the service they render and the basic parental rights they are designed to implement. In every area of life, freedom of choice and voluntary nongovernmental activity are encouraged as profoundly in harmony with the American pluralistic ethos; here alone they are disapproved of and penalized as an invasion of an essential governmental monopoly. We are pluralists everywhere else, but somehow we remain statists and uniformitarians in the realm of education."n
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