Dear Member,

The American Civil Liberties Union, a non-partisan organization with hundreds of thousands of activists and members and 53 affiliates nation-wide, strongly urges you to oppose S. 3682 and H.R. 5822, The America’s Opportunity Scholarships for Kids Act. These bills would authorize 100 million taxpayer dollars to be funneled into private and religious schools through a voucher scheme. As Congress looks to improve the quality of public education provided to students across the country, its efforts should be aimed at helping all students, not a select few. By their nature, vouchers divert limited resources away from the public school system where ninety percent of American children are enrolled. Further, voucher programs threaten students’ civil rights, are not proven to raise academic achievement and lack the kind of accountability at the heart of recent education reforms. President Bush and the Department of Education have made no effort to attach civil rights protections to prevent discriminatory practices in the elementary and secondary schools that would receive federal money. Furthermore, this legislation does not provide for any long-term sustainable solution to the problems facing many of our nation’s public schools.

S. 3682 and H.R. 5822 do not give parents real school choice.

Earlier this month, Secretary Spellings of the Department of Education announced, “families in communities where schools fall short deserve choices when it comes to their children’s education.”[1] The illusion of choice provided to parents and students by voucher programs often overshadows two important facts: (1) parents’ choices regarding where their children attend school will not actually increase because the decision whether or not to admit a child will continue to remain firmly in the hands of participating private schools, and (2) merely switching from a public to a private school in no way guarantees a better education. Additionally, there are fewer choices for students with disabilities and students with limited English proficiency.

S. 3682 and H.R. 5822 threaten civil rights.

The ACLU has serious concerns about any school voucher program that allows government funding of private and religious schools without requiring those schools to abide by Federal, State and local civil rights laws. Private schools are exempt from many civil rights laws, including the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Without holding private and religious schools to the same standards as we hold public schools, a voucher program could expose students to discrimination, particularly on the basis of disability or religion. Such discrimination would be an assault on the long-standing principle of equal treatment for all students.

This legislation diverts attention away from true education reform.

There is no persuasive evidence that vouchers or education tax subsidies improve student achievement or improve the quality of public education. According to a large-scale study released in January 2006, if the effects of income and school and home circumstances are taken into account, students in regular public schools do as well as or significantly better than comparable students in private schools in math.[2] A second study also released in January 2006 found that participants in the Cleveland voucher program did not show higher academic achievement than students not using vouchers.[3] The $100 million in taxpayer money authorized by this legislation could be better used to decrease class sizes, fund up-to-date school materials, and hire new teachers in public schools. Vouchers redirect dollars away from public schools to private schools that are not held accountable for student performance or for how the funds are spent.

Vouchers undermine accountability standards.

To send public funds to schools over which the public cannot exercise oversight is inconsistent with and violates the basic principles of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). While the nation’s public schools are required to hire highly qualified teachers, produce public statistics on their students’ academic achievement, ensure academic progress, and account for how they spend taxpayer money, private and religious schools receiving taxpayer money through a voucher program will not be held to any such standards. For example, the private schools would be free to hire unqualified teachers if there are no accountability standards in place.

We look forward to working with you to support legislation that will in fact support all of our children in the public schools and defeat private school voucher schemes. Such legislation only takes attention and resources away from the true goal of providing every child in America with access to a high quality public education. As such, we urge Congress to reject S. 3682 and H.R. 5822 in favor of legislation proven to help meet its responsibility to all students.

Sincerely,

Caroline Fredrickson
Director

Terri Ann Schroeder
Senior Lobbyist

Endnotes
[1] Statement from Secretary Spellings on America’s Opportunity Scholarships Legislation, Department of Education Press Release July 18, 2006.
[2] Chris Lubienski and Sarah Theule Lubienski, Charter, Private, Public Schools and Academic Achievement: New Evidence from NAEP Mathematics Data, National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2006. http://www.ncspe.org/readrel.php?set=pub&cat=126
[3] Clive R. Belfield, The Evidence on Education Vouchers: An Application to the Cleveland Scholarship and Tutoring Program, National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2006. http://www.ncspe.org/list-papers.php