In his Dec. 13 Juneau Empire “My Turn,” Jeremy Price of the Koch brothers-funded Americans for Prosperity offered some suggestions for improving education in Alaska.
I’ll get to those suggestions, but first, what is Americans for Prosperity and do they have all our students’ best interests in mind? To get a sense of their priorities, on the Americans for Prosperity website you can find a release titled “AFP Cheers Confirmation of DeVos as Education Secretary.” DeVos has never taught or even attended a public school of any kind and supports spending public dollars in selective private for-profit vouchers that have failed the likes of Michigan and other states.
What is Price’s proposal? Education Savings Accounts: the latest trend in publicly subsidized private and for-profit education. These are the new vouchers, same as the old vouchers. Thankfully, the Alaska Constitution prohibits spending public dollars on private and for-profit schools. Public dollars support public educational options for ALL Alaskan students.
Proponents of these ESA schemes, like Americans for Prosperity and American Legislative Exchange Council, neglect to tell you data indicate that nearly every public dollar spent goes directly to unaccountable private and for-profit institutions — just like a voucher program. ESA monies line pockets at the same time they deny educational access for all students.
How does Americans for Prosperity propose to pay for these vouchers? One estimate for the cost of a voucher program in Alaska put it at $100 million dollars. Why would a state facing massive deficits get in the business of subsidizing private, for-profit, and religious schools?
In a factual error, Price states, “ESA programs have helped thousands of students in states such as Arizona, Florida and Mississippi.”
In Mississippi, fewer than 300 students participated in their program. Florida’s program is limited to students with disabilities. The Florida Department of Education conducted an investigation of 38 schools suspected of defrauding the program for students with disabilities — in 25 cases the allegations of fraud were substantiated. These schools had received nearly $50 million dollars in public funds.
In Arizona, according to AZCentral.com, “Arizona’s new school-voucher program is on hold.” And in a citizen led-effort to repeal it, 111,540 signatures were collected to put the controversial expansion of Arizona’s school-voucher program on the November 2018 ballot for repeal.
Data from both Nevada and Arizona confirm that these programs appeal more to affluent families and also favor those in urban and suburban settings over rural districts. Many rural Alaska communities lack sufficient population to make “choice” feasible. Even where choices exist, it is private schools that have the choice. They can choose to reject applicants based on disabilities. Even if accepted to private schools, students with special needs forfeit all their legal rights to an adequate education.
Alaska’s system of public charter schools provides many options for our students with the accountability and oversight required by law for public schools and public dollars. States with ESAs exercise very little oversight over the vendors paid through these accounts. Audits and recovering misspent funds just add to the cost of subsidizing private and for-profit education in Alaska.
Vouchers, including ESAs, do nothing to improve Alaska’s education system. In fact, they threaten irreparable harm. I appreciate our Alaska Constitution and the protections it contains against public dollars flowing to unaccountable private and for-profit schools.
Price is correct about one thing: there is no better gift than a great education. Let’s keep investing to make Alaska’s public schools great for ALL students. Students, parents, educators, administrators, tribal leaders, businesses, and community organizations are working together now to create optimal learning opportunities within all our public schools. Many Alaskans have answered Gov. Bill Walker’s Alaska Education Challenge to identify ways to improve student learning. To learn more about our Alaska public education system, watch the CCSSO State Spotlight: Alaska’s Approach to Equity video available at https://education.alaska.gov/. Also on the website, check out the ideas to increase student success, support responsible and reflective learners, and cultivate safety and well-being in our schools at Alaska’s Education Challenge. Our state Department of Education staff is collaborating in great effort to support an excellent education for all students everyday.
Amy Jo Meiners is an elementary school teacher in Juneau and was selected as the 2016 Alaska Teacher of the Year.
