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Pierce posted on 12/5/2011 8:55:00 AM
Pushing vouchers: For some, it's about tax dollars for church schools
Saturday, December 03, 2011
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
No one should be surprised that leaders in the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh want families served by its schools to push for passage of a tuition voucher bill in Harrisburg. The legislation is in the schools' interest, and it's the right of parents to speak out.
But an email last month to Catholic school principals from Ronald T. Bowes, the diocese's assistant superintendent for policy and development, revealed a coercive attempt to tie a family's tuition aid to its degree of lobbying. As reported Tuesday by the Post-Gazette's Mackenzie Carpenter, Mr. Bowes wanted parents not only to contact their legislators but also to complete a form describing their efforts.
That would have been an unfair imposition on parents who need the help, one that would have forced them to trade their right to free expression for tuition dollars. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and diocesan higher-ups sent a "corrective" email to school principals weeks later.
In October the state Senate passed a measure that would shift $5,800 to $13,900 per student away from public schools and to a student's private school. A law that pumps that kind of taxpayer money into religious education, where enrollments have declined sharply, would be a boon to many faith groups. Hence Mr. Bowes' over-the-top email, which said "we must be relentless in our efforts to help pass school choice this year."
Upon learning of the email from principals, the diocese's education secretary and its schools superintendent sent out their own memo. They told principals Mr. Bowes had "incorrectly stated that tuition assistance grants for parents would be contingent on whether or not they had contacted their state legislators in support of school choice. This is simply not true ..."
As the voucher debate moves to the House, this episode is a reminder that some voucher advocates are not as interested in rescuing students from failing public schools as they are in getting public funds for their private, in this case religious, schools. This comes despite the Pennsylvania Constitution's flat assertion that "No money raised for the support of the public schools of the Commonwealth shall be appropriated to or used for the support of any sectarian school."
No child should be trapped in a failing school system, and the Legislature should fund alternatives and reforms that work. But lawmakers must keep in mind that for some of the biggest backers of vouchers, the movement is about channeling public dollars into religious education -- in opposition to the will of Pennsylvania's founders.
First published on December 3, 2011 at 12:00 am
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11337/1194195-192.stm#ixzz1ffTGxySs
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