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April 2, 1999/16 Nisan 5759, Vol. 51, No. 27
Activists focus efforts to defeat school voucher bill
MICHELLE ACKERMAN
Staff Writer
and ANNE BRADY
Managing Editor
Opponents of legislation that would allow for public-funded vouchers for private-school tuition were feverishly working this week to organize a Senate phone-in/e-mail campaign to defeat House Bill 2279 on the floor of the Senate.
The Anti-Defamation League's Arizona office sent out a legislative alert to board members on Tuesday, March 30, warning that the legislation could hit the floor of the full Senate "any day." The bulletin included a list of all state senators' phone numbers and e-mail addresses.
"We're trying to mobilize people," said Marc Lieberman, chairman of the ADL's Civil Rights Committee. "We're going to try a phone campaign, but I've got to be honest with you: I'm concerned about this one. ... Unfortunately, many of the legislators think this is a really neat thing that will help public schools."
Penny Kotterman, president of the Arizona Education Association (which represents teachers), another voucher opponent, was more optimistic as the Senate vote loomed.
"There's always an outside chance that the voucher bill could pass, but we don't believe that it's likely," she said. "But given the makeup of the Senate, there's always that chance."
HB 2279, also known as the Parental Choice Grant bill, would allow low-income parents to obtain vouchers to pay for private school tuition, including at religious schools, whatever the school charges, up to $5,000 per child.
By a vote of 6-3, the Senate Education Committee approved the bill on Thursday, March 25, after amending it to be limited to parents whose children now attend public schools (excluding those already enrolled in private schools) or those just entering school. This was done to eliminate the need for an additional appropriation linked to the bill. Low-income status is determined by eligibility for the federal free lunch program.
The bill quickly passed through the Senate Rules Committee on Monday, March 29.
Among those who have been calling lawmakers in support of the bill is Lisa Graham Keegan, state superintendent of public instruction.
Two weeks ago, she brought famed economist Milton Friedman to Phoenix to meet with legislators "in the hopes that his brilliant mind" would convince them of the wisdom of the measure, which Keegan believes would be especially "valuable to poor kids," said Laura Penny, chief of policy and communications at the Arizona Department of Education.
Also, although she has not taken a specific stand on this bill, Gov. Jane Hull, "in general, does in fact support parental choice," according to her spokeswoman.
Since Hull is known to support choice, and the courts in recent years have also upheld this sort of legislation, Lieberman said it's key for civil rights advocates who believe that vouchers violate the principle of the separation of church and state, to raise their fiercest opposition in the Senate.
"In light of recent Supreme Court rulings, I'm afraid the court may uphold this," said Lieberman, referring to a 1998 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on a similar choice program in Milwaukee, Wis., and an Arizona Supreme Court ruling upholding the constitutionality of tax credits for donations to private-school scholarship funds.
However, if the bill does make it out of the Senate and the inevitable conference committee (to work out differences between the House and Senate versions), and is signed by Hull, the ADL and AEA likely would be joined by the Arizona Civil Liberties Union in a court challenge.
"We are hoping it will die on the floor (of the Senate)," said ACLU Executive Director Eleanor Eisenberg. "Should it pass, we will look very, very carefully at challenging it in the courts."
If the bill dies on the Senate floor, Kotterman predicted that won't be the end of the fight either.
"I think what's clear is that the individuals that support his kind of an effort are likely not to let this die."
The bill's main sponsors could not be reached for comment this week.
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