Dinniman's deal advances school voucher bill - Daily Local News 3/7/2011

The Daily Local (dailylocal.com), Serving Chester County, PA


Dinniman's deal advances school voucher bill
Senator wants full hearing on amendments
Monday, March 7, 2011

By EVAN BRANDT, Special to the Local News

A bill implementing a school voucher system in Pennsylvania is headed to the floor of the state Senate with support from a Democratic state senator from Chester County who said he may not vote for the final bill without changes.

State Sen. Andy Dinniman, D-19th, of West Whiteland, minority chairman of the Senate education committee, said he voted to move the bill out of committee in exchange for a promise from the chairman that five amendments he offered for the bill would get a full hearing.

Known as Senate Bill 1, the proposal is co-sponsored by Jeff Piccola, R-Dauphin, chairman of the education committee, and Anthony Williams, D-Philadelphia.

Gov. Tom Corbett's administration endorsed the proposal during hearings last month before the Senate Education Committee.

"Sadly, but not unexpectedly, the bill was voted out of committee," Pottstown School Board member Michele Pargeon reported to the school board Thursday evening.

She has drafted a resolution for the board to consider that will "oppose any bill that permits school vouchers."

If enacted, during its first two years, the law would allow taxpayer-funded money to be used to allow low-income students in 144 perennially failing schools to transfer to other public schools or to private or parochial schools.

Dinniman said he supports the purpose of the bill for the first two years of its three-year phase-in period

"I have no problem with the first two years. Those schools are at the bottom of the pile and no one really knows what to do about them," said Dinniman. "We've given them more state money and still, no change, so vouchers make some sense there because we've had decades of poor performance and it is immoral and unethical to allow it to continue."

But in the third year after the bill is enacted, it would apply statewide for students whose households are at 130 percent of the poverty line and that is not something Dinniman said he can support without some caveats.

"I've seen estimates that say this is going to pull $84 million to $1 billion out of public school budgets and no one can tell me where that money is going to come from if the state does not provide alternative funding," said Dinniman.

He also has raised concerns about financial accountability for public money, and academic accountability for students using taxpayer-funded vouchers in private schools.

All of which were the subject of five amendments he offered in committee but which were defeated in a party line vote.

But Dinniman said the promise of hearings on his five amendments is more than he went into the debate with, and so it improves the chances for making changes to the bill.

"The Republicans have the majority and this is obviously their No. 1 priority, so there is no question they have the votes to get this passed," Dinniman said. "My goal was to get hearings on the issues that relate to the third year, and Sen. Piccola committed to that."

Among Dinniman's amendments are one that would require any private school accepting vouchers to permit audits of how the public funds were spent; and another that would require students using vouchers to take some sort of standardized test for "academic accountability."

"Who could argue with that?" he asked.

The central issue Dinniman said he wants addressed is the issue of funding.

The current bill expands a program called Educational Improvement Tax Credits, that gives private sources 75 percent tax credits for donations made to educational institutions.

Dinniman said private schools use this source of income aggressively and the total dollar limit the state has set on the program is expended in days if not weeks.

He proposes expanding it and decreasing to 65 percent the amount the private source can claim, thus generating an entire new income stream for schools, public and private, and the only cost to the state is a decrease in tax collections.

In addition to providing money to help fund the program, expanding that program "helps all schools," Dinniman said.

The hearings will be held, Dinniman said, "because the Republicans understand these are legitimate concerns and both the minority and majority chairmen of the House Education Committee have already asked to see the text of my amendments."

Although Dinniman's amendments were not attached to the bill, two others, introduced by Piccola, were.

The first would prohibit vouchers being used for "the recruitment of students for athletic reasons by a private or public school." The second established guidelines for non-public schools accepting vouchers, primarily requiring them to be nonprofit entities and to make written policies regarding tuition, admission, academics and extracurricular activities available.

Given the cuts to school aid expected when Corbett's budget is presented Tuesday and the major shift a vouchers bill would represent to Pennsylvania education policy, Dinniman said "this will be the most important legislative session in terms of education in the last 50 years."

We asked our Facebook readers what they think about the voucher debate and nearly all of those who commented, favored the measure in one form or another. Here is an edited version of what they had to say:

"I think that it's a hard issue," wrote reader Becky Simmers. "As a Christian parent, I would love to be able to afford Christian schooling so that I know the school's teachings (particularly in science and sex ed) are done in a way that aligns with my family's beliefs. However, in my experience, private schooling doesn't seem to have as strict of standards as public schooling as far as teachers' educational backgrounds, etc. so I don't know that I would put my child in private schooling anyway. I guess it depends on the school. I'd have to do my research."

Connor Kurtz wrote, "school vouchers are common sense solutions for a failing education system. If Harrisburg approves vouchers, then parents will have a choice when it comes to their children's education. Vouchers will give more children educational opportunities that were previously out of reach. Pennsylvania's education system needs change — school vouchers are a positive start."

"I'll take a totally different tack," wrote Phill Spence. "When the government gets its hooks into something, it feels it has the right to dictate terms. I worry that schools that accept vouchers will, at some point down the road, be forced to conform to the standards and beliefs of the government. ie. 'Random Christian School X' must teach evolution and is not permitted to teach creationism (or intelligent design, etc.)."

Stacey Ampfield wrote, "I would like the vouchers, I am scared for my son to go to Pottstown, I heard so many bad things about some of the teachers and just how things are done."

"How about writing a "check" (non-negotiable except by educators via the government) to parents for HALF the amount it takes in the local school district to school the child that the parent could then present to the school of their choice and (maybe only if that's a public school) that school would be eligible for a matching check from the government," wrote Mary Jo Anne Valko-Warner. "Any parent should be able to choose the path for their child (either home-school, public, or private school)."

Heidi Sue Kaminsky wrote "I am a big 'choice' advocate, however, when public $$ for 'economically disadvantaged' children in 'struggling schools' (ie: not meeting PA's new standards) is allowed to follow the child to a school that is not held to those same standards, I have a problem. Not sure how that serves the child, the school or the public any better."

"But aren't the vouchers for low income — oops 'economically disadvantaged' families — only?" wrote William Guyer. "This needs to be an across the board system that allows any parent to have a voucher to send their child(ren) where they please. Otherwise it is just another form of welfare."

Jason Tilli wrote, "I love the idea of vouchers. I fear that it may have the opposite effect on public schools, instead of doing a better job and curbing their spending, they might just get worse."

"Hey, I'm all for trying it," wrote Tim Strunk. "I can not see it being worse than what we have now. I understand it's already being done in other states and has been very successful."

Jon Stadler wrote, "taxpayer funded school vouchers are another band-aid that masks the real problem with education in this country. Education starts and ends at home, and too many parents are not willing to do their part at home. I believe this involves instilling in your children a belief of the importance of a good education, monitoring TV activity, encouraging children to read often, providing help with schoolwork, and last but not least, establishing a line of communication with the school the child attends. Too many parents feel that educating their children is the job of the school district. They wash their hands of it, until the child struggles or gets in trouble, and then they become involved, placing blame on the school. I'm not a teacher, I'm a parent who understands the importance of a good education to a child's future."

"This was crazy from the start," wrote Robin Unruh. "Private school for kids who can't afford it and dead beat parents. Yet I work my (butt) off and can't afford public school (taxes, uniforms supplies, trips etc.)! It just reinforces the fact that if you don't work, mooch off the government you can truly live the good life on the working man's dime!"

"Vouchers are a great idea," wrote Jessica Garner McKee. "People should get to choose which school they want their child educated. I send my kids to a charter school. Longer school day, a larger variety of language and fine arts, even in kindergarten. They aren't required to tolerate behavior problems and all around more academically focused. Best of all, my tax dollars pay for it."

URL: http://www.dailylocal.com/articles/2011/03/07/news/srv0000011097061.prt
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