Rand Paul pushes federal school vouchers
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).
(By Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)
(By Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)
Sen. Rand Paul, a rising star in the Republican Party, is pushing for a federal voucher program that sounds similar to one advanced by Mitt Romney when he was running for president.
Paul, from Kentucky, co-sponsored an amendment to Senate budget legislation with Sen. Lamar Alexander, a Republican from Tennessee who was once secretary of education. The “school choice” amendment calls for using $14.5 billion in current Title 1 funds, which are targeted to students who attend high-poverty schools, to cover 11 million students, at $1,300 per child. The money would follow a student at any accredited public or private student a family chooses.
During the last presidential campaign, Republican candidate Romney talked about how education funding should “follow the child” — a euphemism for a system of vouchers that would give public money to families to pay for tuition at private schools,