For pre-K choices

In a recent article in the Manchester (NH) Union-Leader ('Before Embracing Universal Pre-K, Lets Take a Look at the Research'), researchers Robert Holland and Don Soifer remind us that "major studies completed over the past few years show that there are significant downsides to government pre-K for all." They suggest pre-K choice instead, something I recommended a couple of years ago in The Oklahoman.

Jett lag

The New Hope Scholarship Act failed to make it out of the House Appropriations and Budget Committee this afternoon. Republicans Ken Miller, Tad Jones, Guy Liebmann, and Randy Terrill voted for the measure. Democrats John Auffet, John Carey, James Covey, and Joe Dorman voted against it, and they were joined by Republican Shane Jett.

The hearing was marked by (a) bureaucratic foot-dragging from an Oklahoma tax collector who, responding to questions from a legislator, pronounced the bill "problematic," "difficult," and "an administrative burden"; (b) repeated questions from Rep. Jett; and (c) laudable leadership by committee vice chairman Tad Jones, who did a good job explaining the bill and answering questions. In the end, credit goes to committee chairman Ken Miller who held the bill over for future consideration, hopefully soon.

Their reasoning escapes me

In recent debate over the New Hope Scholarship Act, state Sen. Kenneth Corn (D-Poteau) acknowledged that the bill would "allow some children to escape the problems of a failed school, if that is in fact what we want to call it." (Oh, let's go out on a limb and call it that. When only 11 percent of your black fourth-graders are proficient in reading, I think it's safe to say that constitutes failure.)

But if you'll look closely, you'll notice that the most telling word in Sen. Corn's sentence is the word "escape." And it's not the first time a union official or one of the union's captive politicians has used that particular word.

Keith Geiger, former president of the National Education Association, once admonished a school-choice proponent on Larry King’s radio show: "Quit talking about letting kids escape." Sandra Feldman, former president of the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, once said the same thing: "The objective is to make the schools good –- not to escape them."

But of course the question is, "Whose objective?" We know the unions’ objective: Preserve jobs for the grown-ups. As longtime AFT boss Albert Shanker famously remarked, "When school children start paying union dues, that's when I'll start representing the interests of school children."

But what if parents have a different objective? If you have a third-grader who still hasn't been taught to read, you're probably looking for an escape hatch. If your eighth-grader is afraid to darken the door of her local school-free drug zone, the objective most assuredly is to escape.

For the unions and their politicians, the children are mere revenue units. And you better believe they can't allow any of them to escape.

'Because of their chains'

As the New Hope Scholarship Act continues to make its way through the Oklahoma state legislature, now's a good time to remember something former U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige told a conference of black ministers back in 2001.

"We also need to give parents more options and choices," Secretary Paige said. "Children trapped in failing schools need a way out. They should have a chance at a quality education."

In Phillipians, the Apostle Paul says, "Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly." My friends, many of our children are trapped in failing schools. Because of their chains, let us speak for reform courageously and fearlessly. I hope their suffering will inspire us to push for real change of our public schools. We must attack courageously the status quo that has trapped some of our children in failing schools.

To do so, we need the support and commitment of the African-American community. These are our children being left behind. Now, the question we must ask ourselves is what are we going to do about it?

The real cost of education

Today in The Washington Post, our friend Andrew Coulson -- author of "Expanding Educational Freedom in Oklahoma," a chapter in OCPA's Oklahoma Policy Blueprint -- points out the real cost of public schools (something Steve Anderson and I have also done here).

'School choice -- now more than ever'

Jason L. Riley makes the case in this morning's Wall Street Journal.

New Hope legislation to be considered Tuesday

Senate Bill 2093, which creates the New Hope Scholarship Act, will be heard Tuesday, April 8 at 1:30 in the House Appropriations and Budget Committee. The meeting is in Room 432A of the state capitol building.

The audacity of New Hope: Oklahoma Democrats and school choice

On March 13 the Oklahoma Senate debated the New Hope Scholarship Act. The bill, SB 2093, provides a tax credit for taxpayers who contribute to organizations that provide private-school scholarships for low-income children attending failing schools in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

OCPA research fellow Pat McGuigan writes about the debate in the April issue of Perspective. You’ll want to read the entire article, but here are some highlights from the debate.

Each of the 24 Republicans in the Senate voted for the measure, but it was the debate among the Democrats which proved to be the most interesting.

State Sen. Jeff Rabon (D-Hugo) didn't like the bill because he said "it strikes me as giving up."

State Sen. Jay Paul Gumm (D-Durant) thinks it would "send up the white flag to abandon many for the benefit of a few."

State Sen. Kenneth Corn (D-Poteau) said that although the bill would "allow some children to escape the problems of a failed school, if that is in fact what we want to call it," it seems unfair that not everyone would be able to get out.

State Sen. Connie Johnson (D-Oklahoma City) asked why we would "want to take some of the kids out of the public schools and essentially leave the rest on the sinking ship."

Arguing in favor of the bill, state Sen. Tom Adelson (D-Tulsa) pronounced himself "embarrassed" by the "lofty and empty rhetoric" he had heard from his fellow Democrats. "If we're going to criticize we better have something ourselves," he said.

State Sen. Earl Garrison (D-Muskogee), a longtime public school educator, agreed. "If you've got a better way to do this, let's do it," he urged his fellow Democrats. "Let's just don't keep on playing politics with kids' lives."

State Sen. Judy Eason-McIntyre (D-Tulsa), a 16-year veteran of the Tulsa Public Schools board of education, said for years she has worked to get someone to "do something about these same schools that have gone on for years and years and years and nobody cared. ... I'm trying to get us to do what we need to do that nobody in a position of power has even said anything about."

State Sen. Andrew Rice (D-Oklahoma City) said for now he was "willing to work to go forward on this issue so kids can have these opportunities" because, although there are some great public schools, "we've got other schools that we've been telling [parents] for years and years and years that it's going to change. And I would not risk my child's education to say, 'Well, I'm going to make you stay in there because I'm committed to fixing the school, and the next thing you know they're in 7th grade, 8th grade, 9th grade and maybe the damage has been done. ... I wouldn't do that." He said that he and his wife happen to have the resources to take their own children out of a bad school if necessary. So "why should I turn to my constituents, especially my low-income constituents, and say they got to stay in there?"

Saving taxpayers a small fortune

State lawmakers at 23rd and Lincoln are telling us the budget is tight this year. But consider how much worse it would be if private school parents and homeschoolers weren't saving taxpayers a small fortune.

According to newly released results from the feds' latest Private School Universe Survey, 29,899 students attend private elementary and secondary schools in Oklahoma. Informed estimates place the number of Oklahoma homeschoolers at 14,000 to 25,000.

So let's say there are 50,000 Oklahoma schoolchildren whose parents are paying for their education. What would happen if these 50,000 kids showed up at their local public school tomorrow morning? ("I'm here for my free education, please.") In order to maintain the current per-pupil expenditure of $7,419 (of which 52 percent is state money, 34 percent local and county, and 14 percent federal), politicians would have to come up with a few hundred million more dollars every year. And that's not counting construction costs. I've seen estimates of $15,000 to $35,000 per seat for a child in public school.

Taxpayers and policy-makers should be grateful to the many parents who are choosing to educate children on their own nickel.

Rescuing children 'one by one'

Some school-choice opponents in Oklahoma (see here, for example) are of the opinion that we shouldn't rescue any children from failing schools because some children would still be left behind. But speaking at an OCPA breakfast yesterday, author and columnist Star Parker compared the school-choice movement to the Underground Railroad, reminding her listeners that "Harriet Tubman was going one by one, getting them out."

'The sinking ship'

During recent floor debate on a bill which would empower some schoolchildren in failing public schools to attend private schools, state Sen. Constance Johnson (D-Okla. City) asked one of the most astonishing questions I've ever heard. "Why is it," she asked, "that we want to take some of the kids out of the public schools and essentially leave the rest on the sinking ship?"

Well, let's see. Not to put too fine a point on it, but maybe it's because the ship is, umm, sinking. And what you do when a ship is sinking is, well, you try to rescue people. I don't know. Maybe I'm old-fashioned.

Give Sen. Johnson credit for recognizing that the ship is sinking. News reports just yesterday reminded us that the graduation rate in the Oklahoma City School District is less than 50 percent. At Sen. Johnson's alma mater, Douglass High School, the average ACT score is 15.1. Only 7 percent of students there score "satisfactory" on the Algebra I end-of-instruction test. And on it goes.

Does Sen. Johnson honestly believe we should force every child to go down with the ship?

Georgia legislature approves tax breaks for private school scholarships

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that the Georgia legislature today approved a significant school choice bill, sending it to Gov. Sonny Perdue (R-Ga.) for his consideration:

If Perdue signs the bill into law, private citizens and corporations could get income tax credits for donating money to non-profit scholarship organizations. Those organizations, in turn, would provide scholarships to parents who want to pull their children out of public schools and send them to private ones.

The scholarship tax credit bill is Georgia HB 1133.

Another school choice bill, Georgia SB 458, would provide private school scholarships for students in schools that lose their accreditation. The scholarship would be for the amount of state funding provided to the district for that student and would come out of that district's allotment. SB 458 has passed the Senate and was favorably reported out of the House Science and Technology Committee last Thursday.

'A coin toss'

Reporting on a new study by the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, The Oklahoman informs us today that the graduation rate in the Oklahoma City School District is around 48 percent. The graduation rate in the Tulsa Public Schools is nearly 50 percent. The study concluded that "graduating from high school in the America's largest cities amounts, essentially, to a coin toss."