Even with recently suggested amendments, the school voucher bill is bad for Indiana. What about poor kids who want to get a better education at a private school? Pump the needed resources into public schools so that the education offered there is top-notch.
Indiana House Republicans recently took the right step in narrowing the scope of a controversial private school voucher bill.
They opened the path that would allow more students on free and reduced-price lunch plans to receive a voucher. But the voucher system is still plagued with problems.
Under the system, taxpayer money would help parents send their public school children to private schools. It is, of course, another Republican attempt to undo Indiana’s public school system.
Currently, House Bill 1003 includes no cap on the number of students who can participate (a push toward enrollment reduction at public schools), and qualifications could allow a student, whose family of four makes $80,000, a 50 percent voucher. On a statewide average, a voucher would be $5,000 for the poorest students and $2,700 for those with the higher income.
Democrats predict that as many as 100,000 new students could be eligible for millions in new taxpayer subsidies.
Whatever the figure, the voucher system can only harm the already-struggling Anderson schools. Even more lower-income families could flee the district with the state sending the Anderson-directed tuition to another district. Private and faith-based schools could benefit with state money, of course, but there are no guarantees they won’t raise their tuition or want to be subjected to public government scrutiny of their budgets.
Anderson schools, and public schools in general, don’t deserve this attack that will undermine any attempts to be successful again.
If the bill progresses — and it is hopefully unlikely with the ongoing General Assembly stalemate — the formula needs to have enrollment limits in place to keep struggling schools afloat.
Nationwide, there are 26 voucher programs in 16 states and Washington, D.C. About 190,000 students are using vouchers or scholarships to go to private schools. The trend is likely headed our way. But the trend, if coming, can’t serve to close Anderson schools. The legislature needs to find ways to revamp education by giving struggling schools top-notch educators. As proposed now, the voucher system is decidedly weighted against districts like Anderson’s.