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August 6, 1999/24 Av 5759, Vol. 51, No.44
McCain continues to pursue voucher program
TAMI BICKLEY
Staff Writer
Although U.S. Sen. John McCain's attempt to enact a nationwide school-choice voucher program for underprivileged children failed in the Senate last week, he continues to push for another voucher-related piece of legislation.
Earlier this year, McCain (R-Ariz.) introduced Senate Bill 667, titled "Educating America's Children for Tomorrow" (Ed-ACT). It includes a three-year voucher demonstration program, which would allow poor parents to use vouchers to pay private school tuition. It also would send millions of federal education dollars directly to local schools, rather than channeling the money through state governments. The bill is currently awaiting a hearing in the Senate Finance Committee.
The legislation, if passed, would "return control to parents, schools and local communities ... (and) improve the quality of teachers by encouraging better training and providing incentives like merit pay," according to a statement from McCain's office in Washington. The bill also would allow taxpayers to receive up to a $500 federal income tax credit if they contributed to a public or private school.
McCain's most recent attempt to pass voucher legislation came in the form of an amendment to the Taxpayer Refund Act. McCain's amendment would have abolished tax credits for ethanol producers, the oil and gasoline industry, and subsidies and special loan programs for sugar producers, making available $5.4 billion to fund the school-voucher pilot program. Nearly 1 million needy children would have received $2,000 per year for three years to be used toward private or religious school tuition. The amendment failed last week by a resounding vote of 86-14 in the Senate.
"Unfortunately, this vote proves that special interests are alive and well in Washington, and that the corporate raid of taxpayers' wallets will continue," said McCain in a news release.
Although the amendment failed by a landslide, McCain spokeswoman Nancy Ives said SB 667 may have a better chance of passage because it doesn't tie funding to cutting ethanol producers' tax credits.
The issue of school vouchers has long been a hot one in Congress, state legislatures and the courts. Recently, the debate has focused on whether public tax dollars should be spent on religious education.
Those in favor of school choice vouchers, such as Robert Templin, academic principal at Phoenix Preparatory High School, say vouchers would force public schools to improve rather than risk losing students and the funding that comes with them.
"Competition (among schools) in that sense is a healthy thing," said Templin. "It requires the public school system to respond to the concerns of the public."
Adversaries argue that vouchers would exacerbate the financial plight of already underfunded public schools. In addition, many believe voucher use at religious schools violates the principle of the separation between church and state.
"One of the truly great things about living in this country is the Constitution that protects ... separation of church and state," said Bonnie Morris, principal of the Solel School, a Jewish day school in Paradise Valley. "Certainly there are enough creative minds and deep pockets in this country that if people are really concerned with helping children who come from underprivileged backgrounds, (they) should be able to do something."
Currently in some parts of New England, parents may send their children to private schools - albeit not religious ones - with public money, if their towns are devoid of a public school.
Toward Tradition, a politically conservative Jewish foundation based in Mercer Island, Wash., this week filed an amicus curiae (friend of the court) petition with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the plaintiffs in the case of Bagley vs. Town of Raymond. Cynthia and Robert Bagley of Raymond, Maine, sued because Raymond does not operate a high school, and they were not permitted to send their children to their school of choice at taxpayers' expense. They chose Cheverus High School, an all-boys Catholic high school in Portland, Maine. The Maine Supreme Court ruled in favor of Raymond and its school district in July 1997.
"Our view is that is unjustifiable discrimination against religion," said Adam Pruzan, program director at Toward Tradition. "One of the things we've learned when it comes to school voucher programs is that the devil is very much in the details. It's hard to craft a bill that will satisfy all needs of constituencies in favor of vouchers.
"Some of the voucher programs that do exist, such as in Wisconsin and (Ohio), (or) in Florida, where they have the A-plus program (which allows parents to open tax-free savings accounts for educational expenses), we think should be models for other states."
Arizona does not have a school voucher program, but has the most charter schools (publicly funded and exempt from a variety of regulations) out of the 26 states that have set them up. The state also has a law that provides state tax credits for those who contribute up to $500 to an Arizona scholarship fund that pays for students' tuition at private and religious schools.
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