Vouchers and public education:
oil and water

Whether you call them vouchers, tuition tax credits, opportunity scholarships or any other name that tries to elicit a positive first reaction, these programs have one thing in common. They all divert money from public schools to support private and religious education.

A blow to education funding

Let's take a look at how vouchers might impact Missouri. Current tax dollars bring in a certain amount that the state uses to fund education and all other state services. If voucher legislation passes, someone will have to pay the bill. For the sake of discussion, let's assume the voucher is for $2,000. If 5,000 students use it, the bill would be $10 million in the first year. Where would the state get the dollars? Since none of the voucher proponents are promoting tax increases to fund their programs, the money would have to be taken from the total pool of dollars used to fund all state services. As a result, existing programs would have to be cut. In other places that have adopted voucher programs, the money is taken directly from the amount used to fund public education. The result is the elimination of some school services, teaching positions and jobs of other education employees.

The fiscal possibilities

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education estimates that approximately 105,000 students attend private and religious schools in Missouri. If all of these students were provided with the voucher in the above example, the cost would be $210 million. The impact on Missouri's public schools would be devastating.

Benefits for the best and brightest who can foot the bill

Voucher proponents tout their idea as a way of providing an alternative for parents in some of our most troubled school districts. Does it really help those children? There's no guarantee children will get into the school of their choice. Private and religious schools have exclusions and preferences based on ability, religion, gender and race. According to Money magazine (Oct. 1994), Catholic schools turn down two out of three applicants. Elite private schools turn down even more. In effect, private and religious schools would choose the best and brightest students, assuming the student's parent(s) could pay the rest of the bill.

Defending a Missouri tradition

Our state has a history of supporting free, public schools for all of our children. This position was codified in the Missouri Constitution of 1875. The Constitution also states that no public money will be used to fund private and religious education in Missouri. In fact, numerous court cases have upheld this restriction over the years. Missouri NEA defends the right of parents to choose the school their children will attend. If their choice is a private or religious school, they should also pay the cost.

Missouri's constitution specifically deals with the education of our children. Article IX, Section 1 (a) notes, "A general diffusion of knowledge and intelligence being essential to the preservation of the rights and liberties of the people, the general assembly shall establish and maintain free public schools for the gratuitous instruction of all persons in this state within ages not in excess of twenty-one years as prescribed by law."

Missouri's public schools accept all students because Missourians understand the link between education and the preservation of rights and liberties. In the face of mounting challenges, our public schools need additional support, not less. Voucher plans, in all of their incarnations, hurt public schools and indirectly hurt children.