‘Public schools are not a business’: Stakeholders and legislators discuss private school voucher program
By Daniel V. Ramirez, EastIdahoNews.com
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IDAHO FALLS (eastidahonews.com) — Hundreds of community members, teachers, and advocates gathered at the Waterfront on Tuesday afternoon to hear concerns from stakeholders about public funds being used for private schools.
This is regarding House Bill 93, also known as the Idaho Parental Tax Credit and Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit Advance Payment fund, which the Gov. Brad Little signed on on Feb. 27. The bill will provide $50 million in tax credits that can be used for private school tuition.
The town hall was hosted by Save Our Schools Idaho, featuring Idaho Falls School District 91 Superintendent Karla LaOrange, Idaho PTA President Jamie Braithwaite and Idaho Falls Middle School Teacher Jake Snarr.
According to its website, Save Our Schools Idaho is a group of educators that aims to educate voters about HB 93 and other programs aimed at defunding public schools.
Literature from the group expresses concerns on how HB 93 will be implemented and worries Idaho lawmakers may expand the $50 million budget to $339 million within the next year.
LaOrange said education is a right for children in Idaho regardless of economic status, language, and background.
“Public education is the bedrock of democracy,” LaOrange said. “Without it, we don’t have smart voters, minds that we need to solve problems, to innovate business and produce generations of leaders, and does that make a difference in Idaho?”
A concern LaOrange has over HB 93 stemmed from several areas in which money from national groups outside of Idaho began funding campaigns to privatize Idaho’s education and invest in outside entities.
She said her daughter, who teaches in Arizona, where a similar bill has been passed, has seen the effects of privatizing public education and the cost it has put on taxpayers. LaOrange said that decision has skyrocketed to $800 million within a few years, which has taken money away from public schools.
LaOrange said that after she learned about the situation in Arizona, a concern for her was that only 8% of students in that state attend private school.
“The vast majority are paying the price for the few who are taking to vouchers in Arizona,” LaOrange said.
Idaho Parent-Teacher Association President Jaime Braithwaite notes that 94% of Idaho students attend a public school in some form, while 6% attend private schools.
She mentioned in conversation with Little that she was informed that budget cuts are expected for next year due to a shortfall, which means a reduction of 4% to 6% will be necessary.
“HB 93 takes essential resources away from our public schools at a time when they need support more than ever,” Braithwaite said.
RELATED | Little tells agencies, education leaders to prepare for possible spending cuts
Snarr said that discretionary funds experienced a reduction during the past legislative session. Discretionary funds are a way for schools to allocate funding to meet their needs and priorities.
“Expansion of the voucher program would jeopardize the state’s ability to make up lost ground on key funding or districts’ needs,” Snarr said. “As public funds are diverted from public schools, public school districts are going to rely more and more on supplemental levies.”
Snarr said the goal he believes these outside groups have is to cannibalize public education to the point where it becomes a talking point for the failure of government.
He worried about how the state would be able to hold these private schools accountable, as there are no guarantees that these institutions will fulfill their promise of providing students with an education. This would result in public schools having to pick up the pieces, Snarr said.
LaOrange shared this concern, stating that HB 93 doesn’t require testing, auditing, or transparency within private school leadership. The only measure for success is a parent satisfaction survey for those who receive the tax credit.
“Public schools are not a business. We are not here to profit. We are not here to make money. We are in the business of your children and helping them grow and become their best every single day,” LaOrange said.
Reps. Stephanie Mickelsen, R-Idaho Falls, Marco Erickson, R-Idaho Falls, and Ben Fuhriman, R-Shelley, were joined by Sens. Dave Lent, R-Idaho Falls, and Kevin Cook, R-Idaho Falls, who each gave their reasoning for voting against HB 93.
A shared concern among legislators was that outside groups were bringing a non-issue to Idaho and inflating it into partisan politics.
Lent said these outside groups spend millions of dollars on campaign ads to ensure that those who don’t support these types of legislation are threatened with being voted out and are encouraged to support their opponents.
“This year, you will get those kinds of flyers in the mail that make us look like we’re walking people from Mexico into our state to take our jobs. Not even close to what’s happening, but they do that for a very specific reason, and that’s to knock us out,” Lent said.
Lent’s concern is that those who benefit from this bill will receive $5,000 to $7,500 and have to say whether they are satisfied; he said the answer would be yes.
Cook said his concern was how he would tell his constituents how the money was being used or where it went, and for him, that was an impossible answer.
As he serves on the Joint-Financial Appropriations Committee, he said neither the committee, nor the governor, nor the agencies that submit their budgets for the next fiscal year can see the money that has been set aside for HB 93.
He said as Little told Braithwaite, the budget cut of 4% to 6% will not affect that $50 million. That means, in addition to the $50 million that disappeared for schools and other agencies, there will be a bigger cut ahead.
“That is already gone. It’s out of here. We have no chance of doing anything with that,” Cook said.
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