Voucher Bill Fails on Capitol Hill
Voucher bills fail on Capitol Hill, but more action expected in 1998
The national school voucher movement is far from dead, but it suffered
a series of major setbacks in the waning days of the 1997 session of Congress.
Each of three different proposals that would have funneled public tax
dollars to private and religious schools went down to defeat, leaving
voucher proponents stunned -- and voucher opponents, led by NEA, equally
encouraged.
Throughout October, pro-voucher forces, led by House Speaker Newt Gingrich
(R-Ga) and House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas), unveiled the three
proposals. By early November, their strategy had failed, their support
in disarray.
Meanwhile, cautious optimism was voiced by the National Coalition for
Public Education, chaired by the PTA and including NEA, the American Federation
of Teachers, the PTA, the National School Boards Association, the American
Association of School Adminstrators, Americans United for the Separation
of Church and State, the American Jewish Congress, the American Civil
Liberties Union, and People for the American Way.
"This fight is far from over," said NEA President Bob Chase,
who predicted that the voucher debate will be part of the political landscape
for years to come.
"We will continue to make the case that vouchers are not the solution
to the problems facing American public education. They are a ticket to
nowhere, providing tax breaks to already well-off families while doing
nothing to improve public schools for the vast majority of America's children."
The three proposals were defeated in a variety of ways:
- The most surprising vote came on Nov. 4, when the House defeated H.R.
2746 -- the Help Empower Low Income Parents (HELP) bill -- by a 228-191
margin. In a straight "up or down" vote on vouchers, a total
of 35 House Republicans voted against the measure, which would have
allowed state and local education agencies to use their Title VI funds
to pay for vouchers to private and religious schools. Currently, Title
VI funds may be used for professional development, technology, combating
illiteracy, gifted and talented programs, and programs for educationally
disadvantaged students.
- Less than a week later, the Senate refused to vote on H.R. 2646, the
so-called "A-Plus Education Savings Account" bill, which would
have created tax-free savings accounts for families earning up to $160,000
annually to use for payment of expenses associated with private, religious,
or home-schooling. The House had passed the bill on Oct. 23 by a 230-198
margin, but after NEA and other opponents pointed out that the vast
majority of tax savings would go to families earning more than $75,000,
support began to wane.
- The final blow to the voucher movement came on Nov. 12, when the House
passed the District of Columbia appropriations bill without the controversial
voucher language contained in an earlier draft. On Oct. 9, the House
passed the bill, which contained a $7 million proposal for "choice
scholarships" for up to 2,000 DC students to attend private and
religious schools, by a single vote -- Gingrich's. Prior to the second
House vote, the Senate had stripped the voucher proposal from the bill,
voting it out by voice vote as a separate bill (S. 1502), which stalled
as the session ended.
In each of the cases, Congress lacked the votes to override promised
vetoes by President Clinton.
"The fight over vouchers will resume in 1998," Chase predicted.
"Our job once again will be to remind Congress that it has a responsibility
to improve education for all children, which is number one on the list
of priorities of voters across the United States."
Posted November 21, 1997