CONTACT: Will Potter   (202) 822-7823

July 18, 2006

National School Voucher Legislation Announced By Congressional Leaders and Education Secretary

Bill will mislead parents and funnel money away from public schools 

WASHINGTON -- Republican leaders from the House and Senate joined Education Secretary Margaret Spellings today to announce the introduction of national school voucher legislation dubbed “opportunity scholarships” by supporters.

“This is just the same old school voucher song with a different verse,” said Reg Weaver, NEA president. “These lawmakers know that voters have rejected ‘school vouchers’ every time they’ve been proposed, so now they’re disguising them as ‘scholarships.’ Voucher programs rob public school students of scarce resources. No matter what politicians call them, vouchers threaten the basic right of every child to attend a quality public school.”

The America's Opportunity Scholarships for Kids Act would provide grants to states, school districts and non-profit organizations for “scholarships” to allow disadvantaged students in underperforming public schools to attend private schools at taxpayer expense.

The “scholarship” model in the legislation is nearly identical to school voucher proposals that have been consistently rejected by Congress. Legislators repeatedly resisted attempts to include private school vouchers in the so-called No Child Left Behind Act in 2001. President Bush has proposed private school vouchers in each of his budgets since then, but the proposals were not considered by Congress.

Weaver noted that lawmakers can better help students in underperforming schools by adequately funding those schools. The so-called No Child Left Behind Act is underfunded by over $40 billion. Congress last year cut funding by another $1 billion, and now the 2007 fiscal year spending bill reported by the House Appropriations Committee would cut another $500 million.

In addition to these shortfalls, programs to help public schools have been neglected. School improvement grants created under the law have never been funded. These grants would help schools that have failed to meet Adequate Yearly Progress for at least two years address their shortcomings.

“The buzzword in education today is accountability, yet school vouchers divert scarce public school dollars to unaccountable private schools,” Weaver said. “Private school students are not required to take federally mandated tests, private school teachers do not have to meet ‘highly qualified’ standards and private schools do not have to show Adequate Yearly Progress. Public schools can, and should, be held accountable, but lawmakers need to provide the resources to get the job done.”

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The National Education Association is the nation's largest professional employee organization, representing 2.8  million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators and students preparing to become teachers.