Education Week - February 7, 2024 - 10

As Private School Choice Grows,
Critics Push for More Guardrails
Calls are growing for more scrutiny over where state funds for private
school choice go and how students are faring in the classroom
By Mark Lieberman
Critics of programs that allow parents to spend
state funds on private school options for their
kids want more regulatory scrutiny over where
the funds go, what parents do with them, and
how participating students fare in the classroom.
In Arkansas, a coalition of education advocacy
organizations including the state teachers' union
is pushing to secure a referendum spot on the
election ballot this November asking voters to
support requirements for all schools that receive
state funds to comply with the same standards for
academics and accreditation.
Arizona's governor recently unveiled a proposed
legislative package that would require students to
attend public school for 100 days before becoming
eligible for a state-funded voucher to pay for
private school tuition.
And advocates for transparency and accountability
are trying to persuade lawmakers in states
like Tennessee to prioritize those values as they
begin to craft potential new private school choice
programs.
Many public school districts and public education
advocates steadfastly oppose vouchers,
education savings accounts, and tax-credit
scholarships-programs that allow parents to
use state funds on private school tuition and
other private education expenses, including for
homeschooling.
But their concerns haven't stopped conservative-led
states from charging ahead. Nine states
allow, or are poised in the coming years to allow,
the vast majority of K-12 students to apply for public
funds to pay for private school and homeschool
expenses. Several of those states, including Ohio
and Florida, passed their expanded programs
within the last year.
Supporters of private school choice argue that
parents will ensure that their child's education is
meeting their needs.
" Parents are the best form of accountability.
They have their child's best interest in mind
and will hold schools accountable to that end, "
a spokesperson for Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee told
the Chattanooga Times Free Press in December.
Lee wants to expand the state's education savings
account program, which is currently limited to a
handful of counties, to make all students across
the state eligible.
But some experts believe parents may not have
the tools to serve as the primary accountability
backstop for programs that cost hundreds of millions
of taxpayer dollars.
" There's a lot of emerging data about the mismatch
between how parents think their kids are
doing and how they're actually doing, " said Liz
Cohen, policy director for FutureEd, an independent
think tank based at Georgetown University's
McCourt School of Public Policy. " To have an independent
data point certainly seems like it would
be helpful. "
Advocates want more data on how private
school choice funds are being spent
The situation in Arkansas illustrates the evolving
tactics private school choice opponents are
deploying.
Last August, public school advocates in the state
failed to secure enough signatures for a ballot ref10
| EDUCATION WEEK | February 7, 2024 | www.edweek.org
"
There's a lot
of emerging
data about the
mismatch between
how parents think
their kids are doing
and how they're
actually doing.
LIZ COHEN
Policy director for FutureEd
erendum that would have asked voters whether
or not to repeal the state's newly passed education
savings account program. The LEARNS Act,
signed into law in March 2023, will in the coming
years make every Arkansas student eligible for a
state-provided sum-currently, up to $6,600 this
year-to cover private school or homeschooling
expenses.
Instead, the policy's opponents are now
aiming to ramp up guardrails around the new
program. If voters approve the referendum,
schools that receive voucher funds would be
forced to adhere to standards for academics
and accreditation that match those that apply
to public schools. Schools that fail to comply
would be ineligible to accept voucher funds.
To get that issue before voters, the groups
still have obstacles to overcome. A new state
law, currently facing a legal challenge, requires
signatures from a larger number of counties
than before in order for a measure to qualify
for the ballot. The state's attorney general on
Jan. 9 also asked the groups to revise the ballot
referendum language for clarity.
In Arizona, obstacles to accountability come
down to a partisan divide. Democratic Gov. Katie
Hobbs has harshly criticized the state's universal
education savings account offering championed
by her Republican predecessor and supported
by the Republican majorities in both legislative
chambers.
Critics of the program have raised allegations
that parents have spent ESA funds on
items that don't serve an educational purpose.
But Hobbs has in recent weeks centered her
ESA criticisms on cost overruns in the program
as the state's budget deficit is projected
to grow to $879 million next year. The cost
of ESAs has ballooned beyond projections-
more than 73,000 students, or 6 percent of the
state's K-12 population, have already signed
up, and thousands more are likely to do so in
the coming months.
Hobbs is aiming to trim $244 million in ESA
program expenses by requiring students to
have attended 100 days of public school before
securing state funds for private school choice.
A year ago, the state's department of education
reported that more than half of students
enrolled in the ESA program hadn't previously
attended public schools, consistent with
similar programs across the country. Many of
those parents would no longer be eligible for
ESA funds from the state if Hobbs' proposal
goes through.
Republican lawmakers in Arizona have already
signaled they have no intention to support
her proposed policies.
Some of the increased momentum around
accountability for private school choice funds
vouchers stems from the expansion of options
on how families can spend the money through
the proliferation of education savings accounts,
said Chris Lubienski, a professor of education
policy at Indiana University. Vouchers
must be spent on private school tuition. Parents
can spend ESA funds on anything from
tuition and fees to technology and classroom
materials, often broadly defined.
" There was kind of a market-based accountability
[with vouchers]-parents are going to
choose within a marketplace where, if a school
is inefficient, if it's wasting money, consumers
will discipline them, " Lubienski said. " Now
when we're giving the money directly to parents
to spend on all different types of things,
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Education Week - February 7, 2024

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