"The charter sector, now saturated with impersonal national chains and for-profit management corporations, has strayed far from the original mission of charter schools. A few states follow that vision; most do not. We regularly receive calls from charter school parents, teachers, and public school advocates raising concerns. The Center will educate the public with facts and provide information on how best to address concerns," said Carol Burris, the Executive Director of NPE.
(https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/national-center-for-charter-school-accountability-launches-with-analysis-of-state-charter-school-laws-302256096.html)
There are two major policy issues that are converging to dramatically impact rural and small town education. The first is school vouchers, often couched in terms of “school choice”. When they first were introduced, they offered a way for low income families to send their children to schools that were higher performing or offered amenities better suited to the individual needs of the child. However, these schools are increasingly becoming for-profit and unaccountable to taxpayers even though they are receiving taxpayer dollars.
The second policy issue, similar to vouchers, are called Educational Scholarship Accounts (ESA). ESAs would have the “scholarship” (aka taxpayer educational money) go with the student. This is increasingly being promoted as the new way forward. However, Indiana Coalition for Public Education Co-founder and Board Member, Dr. Vic Smith, raises some alarming concerns in his most recent post (I’ve included just a few of his bullet points. I encourage you to read his full article):
The Indiana plan was announced by Senator Mishler last January in Senate Bill 255. It would give every parent in Indiana a voucher/education scholarship account (ESA). All family income limits would end. Taxpayers would foot the bill for education but would have no influence on what is done with the ESA money.Parents would control what is spent.
- All education standards would be set by parents running their state-funded homeschools, not by local school boards, the General Assembly or the state board of education. Efforts to raise literacy in the early grades with additional IREAD tests could be ignored by parent-run homeschools.
- The movement to raise standards in Indiana begun 25 years ago would be dead.
- Homeschools run by parents in this program are unaccredited, unsupervised, and unaccountable.
- Parents of all students would be eligible to apply for an online account, called an education scholarship account (ESA), worth approximately $6,000.
- Funding would shrink for public school students because when a parent gets an online account, the money (approximately $6,000) is subtracted from the State Education Fund that funds all public schools.
- For the first time, this plan would give state money to run unsupervised homeschools, at an estimated additional cost of $46 million, according to the fiscal analysis of the non-partisan Legislative Services Agency.
- No criminal background checks are required for parents seeking state-funded ESAs.
- No criminal background checks are required for providers of education services approved for payment in the ESA program by the Indiana Treasurer.
As a parent of three children, two of which are in K-12, I recognize the need for education to be adaptive and not “one-size-fits-all”. However, this move towards privatization with public money and unaccountable structure is disastrous for a state that must remain competitive in a global economy. For rural and small-town Hoosier families that lack reliable broadband internet, what opportunities do they have to connect with educational resources within a homeschool environment that will prepare them for present and emerging industries? If local public schools close due to lack of public funds, what options remain for Hoosier families, especially if they lack transportation or require special education? Religious schools have historically been discriminatory in their enrollment practices. What protects equal access to quality education? We cannot abandon our children to a dystopian economic future. Well-funded local public schools are the champions of student opportunity and the heartbeat of our communities.
What’s the Worst That Can Happen?
Before returning to Indiana in 2016 to live near my aging parents, I lived in Los Angeles. I lived in LA when the Enron scandal broke and the mortgage crisis hit. What I witnessed in both was an unregulated, unaccountable corporate sector gambling with public money. The same profiteering is happening within education, and it is being marketed as “school choice,” “parental control,” and “religious freedom.” However, the end result is just as disastrous as a shuttered factory when a charter school fails, and hundreds of children have no school to attend with little warning. In our increasing economic crisis, will families be tempted to use their $6000 educational allotment on housing, utilities, food, or sudden medical bills (all industries documented for corporate greed)? Yet, the most alarming issue I am concerned with is children living in an abusive environment, left uneducated and isolated because the State abdicated its responsibility to those children by requiring no accountability or formal check-in process for a private homeschool.
The Cost of School Vouchers
Indiana public schools are losing money due to vouchers. Even if you have no schools in your district that accept vouchers or any students who leave your school district to use vouchers elsewhere, your tax dollars are still funding out-of-district vouchers.
Use this guide from ICPE to see what your local school district would have received:
https://indianacoalitionforpubliced.org/voucher-cost/
Trust me when I say there are those who would exploit Indiana’s already lax regulations to sacrifice our next generation to make a profit. We cannot let them do that. If our State legislators are unable or unwilling to protect our children from this not-so-subtle form of extraction and exploitation, then we must vote them out this November!
My name is Michelle Higgs, and I am running to represent House District 60. If you want a different voice in the Statehouse, someone who champions people over profiteers or partisan politics, please consider me your next State Representative. I would be honored to receive your support and, most importantly, your vote this election. Early voting begins October 8th, so please check your voter registrationbefore October 7th. [https://indianavoters.in.gov]
https://voteformichellehiggs.com
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[Continue reading this week's Mondays with Michelle]
