By Megan Risbon
I am a single mother. According to voucher proponents, the program is supposed to help families like mine. But after looking at the program closer, pro-voucher rhetoric doesn't match the reality lower-income Utahns and their children face.
And I would welcome any of the pro-voucher people to sit down with me and do the numbers.
After Republicans passed HB 148 this year, one of the newspapers had a nice little chart that showed how much voucher money I could get to send my daughter to private school. It would be about $2,500.
According to the pro-voucher people at Sutherland Institute, the average cost of private school tuition in Utah is $4,250. That means my out-of-pocket expense for private school tuition would be $1,750. (Not to mention the other expenses of private schools, but more on that later) I don't know about you, but $1,750 is a lot of money! That would pay for half of my daughter’s health insurance for a year. (Another story for another time). Or even a car of my very own car. Or help me pay off some of my student loans.
None of this matters because after paying each month’s bills, I wouldn’t be able to pay the extra tuition anyway.
Voucher proponents paint these rosy, Never-never Land scenarios. They do not live in the world I live in. They never mention other fees associated with private schools: the registration fee, the activity fees, uniforms, and books. And on and on.
Oh, and let’s not forget about transportation. Most private schools don't have the capability to bus children to and from school. Please Mr. Voucher Man, how can I get my child to a private school across the county when I have to be at work at about the same time in the morning? Should I risk losing my job?
Luckily, there are several private schools in the Salt Lake City downtown area so it would not be much of a burden for my family. But what about those low-income families living miles from a private school or in rural Utah with no car or only one car between working parents? What about their so-called "choice."
Juggling morning schedules is tough enough without factoring in costs of gas and car maintenance ... just to send your child to private school. (And what about multiple children and multiple schools)?
Also, most low-income families are also working families. Both parents work outside the home. Families must come up with after-school child care regardless of whether their kids go to private or public schools. Unless children are supervised by a relative or close friend, child care costs money.
Many private schools have scholarship programs. Maybe my family would qualify. But guess what? Public schools don't charge fees. Sure, you have to buy clothes, regardless of uniform restrictions, and most parents pay for school lunch anyway. As for transportation, your kids could get free transportation.
Voucher proponents say it's all about choice. Has anyone told them choices parents already exercise? My daughter attends a public school outside our neighborhood boundaries. It costs me $5.
In my opinion, this school is one of the best schools in the state. It is an ArtWorks for Kids School. In every part of the curriculum, there is a significant focus on the arts. Everyday, the kids have drama, band, choir, or visual arts. A recent activity included the students in my daughter’s class reading the book, “The Secret Garden” and following it up with a visit to see the play at the Hale Centre Theatre. It really is a great program. The cost to me to educate my daughter using this program? Nothing unless I choose to donate. Because this school is outside our neighborhood boundaries, I must drive her there everyday. Fortunately for me, it’s on my way to the office.
My opinion on this issue has only solidified in the past year with the increased barrage of pro-voucher rhetoric. They say vouchers will help families like mine, but yet, I just don’t see how. In fact, I used think vouchers were OK. My daughter would have individual attention and a broad spectrum of learning opportunities. Class size would be small allowing teachers to focus on her problems, if any.
I don’t need to worry about that at her current school. Large class size is unknown to me. Last year, her class had 21 kids in it; this year, only 19. She gets all the individual attention from her teacher that I can hope for. She is well-fed and well-educated at her public elementary school. I couldn’t ask for anything more. And the best part is I don’t have any out-of-pocket expenses, that unless I choose to contribute.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
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10 comments:
Just because it doesn't work for you, doesn't mean someone else can't swing it and have it really be a big help. Especially someone who's kid is struggling with public schools.
I have a friend who makes just over 100k a year. He pays $25,000 out of pocket to pay for his FIVE kids to go to private school. He wouldn't get any voucher money. Do you think that $25k plus additional expenses hurts him? I can guarantee you it does. He even moved to a different city to be by the private school. Maybe you look at this example as just some rich family but I can tell you that it hurts. It's not like his take home is 100k leaving him with $75k to buy boats and cars. He's doing ok but the point is, he is paying twice. He pays for public school and gets nothing. He funds all of his kids educations twice.
Reality Check here twinkle toes.
The majority of children that struggle in public schools are not going to make it into private schools. In fact, there is no reason for a private school to accept these children.
Megan thanks for your honest revelation that for you this bill doesn't bring you choice.
I would be pleased to sit down with her and talk this through. Of course, she will know her finances and, more importantly, her priorities better than anyone.
One beautiful aspect of this new law is that it does require some sacrifice (sometimes very significant sacrifices) and that is good welfare policy...and that is what this bill is "supplemental income."
Most private schools in Utah also provide their own scholarships and, for very low-income households, Children First Utah offers half tuition scholarships to help out.
Hundreds of families already make this sacrifice and make it work for them without a voucher. The extra supplemental income from HB 148 helps even further.
There is hope, but the author is correct...it is not easy. And that is a shame.
Best, PTM
If you don't have any out of pocket expenses you are really lucky. Even when my kids were in elementary school the school sent home a list of items that each student had to bring, mostly to be shared in the classroom. Cost was usually at least $50-$100 per kid per year. Not a lot but more than expected for a 'free education'. Now my kids are in Jr. High and just to register the 2 of them it was over $450. This is a public Jr. High.
While you may not see the advantage to you, I think lots of people can see the advantage you could gain with a little sacrifice. While I haven't looked at that source you gave for the average private school tuition, I would bet that the average for elementary school, where I am assuming you child currently is, is going to be less than that. You already are providing your own transportation. If the private school you want may not be on your way to the office maybe you will have to make the sacrifice of an extra drive or maybe even moving. You have already made some sacrifices to provide you child with what you think is a better education than you would have gotten at your neighborhood school. Yet you think that greater sacrifice that others my be willing to make is too much to ask?
Will vouchers help every single family? No. And of course the program in not big enough to help every family. Will it help some families who are willing to make a sacrifice to get what the feel is a better education for their children? Yes.
Will it actually be a better education? Well I am not going to try to answer that for every family. I am not sure I would have done very well in the type of school you describe your daughter is attending. When I was in school, the arts bored me to tears, I hated them. If I would have had to go to an arts type class every day (probably sacrificing time from PE or Math or English) I probably would not have done as well in school. But that is not to say others would not have done better in that environmnent. But that is one of the issues here, with vouchers more students might be able to be afforded the opportunity at that better education.
I would be willing to bet that even if the state set up a system where all school dollars followed the children where ever they decided to attend, that the vast majority of Utah public schools would survive.
If you choose to send you kids to a private school that is your choice and you are free to make it. But for those that can't afford that choice let us have better pubic education. Because even with an average $2,000 voucher, most Utah families won't be able to afford expensive private school tuition, which averages $5,000 per child. For a family with 4 children, the additional $20,000 in tuition puts private school completely out of reach and voucher won't fix that.
Let's look at your comment Kadie from a little different perspective:
"If you choose to send your kids to a [public] school that is your choice and you are free to make it. But for those that can't afford that choice [i.e. can't afford to let their kids languish in a school system that doesn't fit their needs] let us have better [private] education."
Megan's post highlights one of the reasons why the public ed perspective (that held by the UEA leadership, PTA leadership, the Democratic Party leadership, and Utahns for Public Schools,) is so wrong on the voucher issue and thus reaches the wrong policy conclusions. After detailing all of the hardships a low-income family faces when sending their children to private schools Megan says: "juggling morning schedules is tough enough without factoring in costs of gas and car maintenance ... JUST TO SEND YOUR CHILD TO PRIVATE SCHOOL" (emphasis added).
The public ed perspective problem is highlighted in all caps above. It's JUST a private school education right? It's not that important for Utah's families. It's the PUBLIC education system that matters. The PUBLIC education system is the higher road. Fortunately, this prism of thought does not bind most Utahns' minds.
For many low-income families, sending their kids to a private school because the public school system doesn't fit their needs it's much more than JUST a private school education. It's an opportunity to avoid lifelong poverty because their child is taught and learns the way they need to as an individual, rather than being forced to learn the way the system demands that they learn; thus learning very little. It's an opportunity to move up in society, just like the public ed perspective wants them to, but not in the way that it wants them to.
Once the public education establishment realizes that a private education is equal to a public education in every way that matters, then maybe they'll realize that their anti-voucher campaign is truly one of misinformation and deception.
Don't stop with the move to privatize all schools. Let's get Blackwater in here to run our police departments! Privatized fire departments worked well in Chicago. Well, that is, up until the Chicago fire.
What I see are corporatists banging on the door of government to guarantee profits. If private schools can sustain a business model, they don't need the help of the government subsidizing their "free market" Paul. Having a public water system hasn't stopped fools from buying water in a bottle. Yet government subsidies for business and ideologies is what the "free marketeers" desire in this case, right? Government spending is OK as long as it benefits the private sector instead of the people?
Pete--your argument is ridiculous and has no bearing on the voucher debate. Vouchers aren't about privatization or subsidizing the free market. Your argument is simply the perspective of those who can't see any redeeming value from rich people or big business (neither of which am I a part of by the way).
Vouchers as a public policy are simply a recognition that private schooling creates public goods just like public schooling does. They both educate children to function socially, think critically, and become educated citizens. We should subsidize privately funded education for the exact same reasons we subsidize publicly funded education. This is the public policy premise of Pell Grants--used at religious, secular, and public institutions of higher learning.
Government spending in education is okay because it is a fundamental right of all Utahns to get a basic education and it is in the public interest to have an educated populace. What public interest is there however in discriminating against all other forms of education except that providing by the government? Children can become educated, productive citizens whether they go to public, private, or home school. Government action in favor of the public school system and no other is the excercise of a personal/group preference for that system, not an establishment of the public good.
This basic column seems like an argument for increasing the amount of the vouchers, not to cut them out entirely. If the State of Utah has collected $7,500 for each child in K-12, why shouldn't most of that be available to educate the child in the best place for that child, as chosen by the child's parents?
"Public schools" is a misleading name in some ways. The public school is contracting with a union of teachers to provide educational services. The union is a private organization, not an agency of the government. The school district could just as easily contract with each teacher individually, or a private company, to provide teaching services, but for the laws that govern collective bargaining and require it to negotiate with the union selected by teachers.
The school contracts with Rocky Mountain Power for electricity, with the natural gas company for heating energy, with the local water department for water and sewer services. The school buys school supplies on the market, buys books from private publishers, buys computers from companies named Apple and Dell, buys furniture from Steelcase and other companies, buys windows from Pella and other manufacturers, buys buses from General Motors and diesel fuel from a refinery. Private companies are making a profit from every dollar sold to buy goods and services. Even the teachers make a "profit" of what they have left over after they pay their basic living expenses. That's why they keep working there.
It's basically hypocritical for people to claim that public schools are sacred and the only ones worthy to use public funds, when they actually pay over ALL of those public funds to private companies and private individuals, who end up with some of it in their pockets. Even the school buildings are originally built with money borrowed in the private financial markets, and then repaid over time from public funds, in the meantime paying profits that support the lawyers and brokers and banks who set up the deals.
To Dan Rather on his comment "The majority of children that struggle in public schools are not going to make it into private schools. In fact, there is no reason for a private school to accept these children. "
WOW..not sure what you intended to mean, but I hope you realize it sounded as though you were saying there are no children in public school with "private school value or caliber." WRONG! There are many advanced, gifted children in public schools that are being stifled, because of the lack of attention to their specific needs.
My son attends a public school, he is 10 years old and very advanced, he is bored in his classes. He is not your average 4th grader, he loves Classical music and can read on a 7th grade level!However, public school is sufficing.
I,(open-minded person) can understand both sides of the "voucher discussion". I do however believe the program would be a lot better and do what it orginally inteded to do if the program were taken back to the drawing board.
It needs to be re-vamped in order to successfully help ALL those in need, so the lower-income families (who should be the one with priority), do not fall through the cracks.
Megan, I would like to invite you to join SPIN, a single parents group which focuses on solutions and resources. Besides there are others who can understand and relate!!
I think you are very intellegent and speak eloquentlly. We will soon be nominating commitee members and I think you are a great candidate! Find us at meetups.com http://newintown.meetup.com/835/, there are no fees, just great friends and resources!
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