Several senators asked McMahon about her position on whether
families should be allowed to use public dollars to send their children to any
school they choose, including private and religious schools. Currently, the
federal government can do very little to encourage this kind of private school
choice, but Trump wants to change that.
During the hearing, McMahon favored an expansive view of school choice.
"Parents look at their children and say, 'I want that for my child. My school is failing my child.' " In that situation, McMahon said, parents deserve a multitude of options, from education savings accounts to vouchers, charter schools and even access to multiple public schools. "I know that if I could get my child to that next school, they would be better off. Every parent wants that opportunity for their child."
They have options in Louisiana. So how is that working out?
The private schools that get about $6,800 per voucher student face scant oversight. Unlike public schools, most don’t receive state ratings because they enroll too few voucher students. But 30 private schools were graded last year, and nearly 80% earned Ds or Fs.
State regulations forbid F-rated private schools from enrolling new voucher students. (Superintendent of Education Cade) Brumley waived that rule in recent years, allowing even the worst-performing schools to take in more students and tax dollars.
Now, Louisiana is set to pump more public money into private schools — an approach that President Donald Trump urged more states to adopt in a recent executive order.
In March, the state will launch the LA GATOR Scholarship
Program, which will cover students’ tuition and other private education
expenses. State officials expect it to cost nearly $94 million next school
year, more than double the annual price of vouchers.
Test scores are very much an imperfect means to evaluate student achievement. Nonetheless, it is not comforting that "while the scholarship program will replace vouchers, many of the same private schools already have signed up- including over 20 with D or F ratings."
"Oh, the games people play now," wrote Joe South. The game here is fairly simple. Take money out of the public schools in order to fund charters, private schools, and whatever else can be done in support of the holy grail of "school choice. Meanwhile, profits are padded for potential donors to the campaigns of public officials promoting school "reform." Students at traditional public schools suffer, enabling school "reformers" claim that the traditional schools have failed students. Pour more money into alternative schools; lather, rinse, repeat. Private profit is the means to an end, and the opportunity for corruption proliferates.
Vouchers, charter schools, and funding for religious and other private schools undermine traditional public education, thereby eroding community and connection among individuals. American society degenerates into warring camps whose members are increasingly deprived of the shared norms and values previously taught for generations in the neighborhood school.
Meanwhile, most measures of educational performance have shown no improvement or deterioration even as the impact upon society is disregarded. Last month, President Trump signed an Executive Order entitled "Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families," even as he is moving to close down the Department of Education. And that, even more than the nomination of mediocre right-winger Linda McMahon, clarifies the intentions of the "school choice" activists.
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