A Question of Vouchers
School vouchers are a side issue for most key players involved in reauthorizing No Child Left Behind. But some powerful lawmakers like House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Education and the Workforce ChairmanJohn Kline, R-Minn., want to make sure they weigh in on vouchers as part of the broader effort to rewrite the K-12 law. One clear way to do that is by supporting a bill introduced by Boehner and Sen. Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn., to restore funding for the District of Columbia's voucher program. Democrats zeroed it out in the last Congress. Boehner previously sponsored the voucher program, and he believes it would be a sign of good faith now for the Obama administration to support vouchers at the same time they're asking him to support other changes to No Child Left Behind (which he also sponsored).
The emotional debate over vouchers could replay itself this year as policymakers tackle problems that some deem more pressing in the elementary and secondary education law. Advocates for restoring the D.C. voucher program argue that vouchers give students and parents more access to better schools. Critics say it's a bad use of federal dollars and takes scarce resources away from the regular public school system. If the voucher debate takes hold, it may be hard to hear arguments about other looming issues like the 2014 deadline for school districts to achieve 100 percent proficiency.
Is there a place for vouchers in the current elementary and secondary education system? Is it appropriate to debate school vouchers as part of a broader discussion of No Child Left Behind? What could policymakers do to broaden the issue beyond the District of Columbia? Can the question of vouchers be a positive force in driving the education debate as a whole, or is it merely a distraction?