What Is School
Choice?
The present Vermont
Context
Part III. Issues to Consider
Questions
for school board members to ask and consider
There is "an elephant in the room" which we all need to acknowledge. School choice.
Even in my own district, I have noticed that school board members resist the subject. School choice can be a very difficult issue to discuss. Why is that? Why is school choice so tough to discuss calmly and rationally? I believe school choice resists reflective debate because of three factors:
Action is now pending in our Vermont legislature on school choice--thus, the amount of public attention and interest has dramatically increased. As publicly elected leaders, school board members need to be able to guide the community dialogue and discussion. Many of you are quite knowledgeable, while others are new to school boards, or need to catch up on the latest events.
This month, I am essentially writing three distinct articles. Feel free to pick and choose according to your needs. These articles are designed to: (1) provide basic information about school choice (definitions); (2) describe the present Vermont context; and (3) to suggest relevant questions to guide local discussions about this policy issue.
This will not be an attempt to present arguments pro and con—but is intended to set the context and provide enough information so that your board and community can have thoughtful (and yes, civil) local discussions.
Special note: As I write this I am acutely aware that any remarks I personally make about school choice may be seen as biased. So I want to immediately divulge my dual roles. As an educational researcher, I have studied school choice for the past six years. Thus, I have frequently, and recently, been asked to testify, participate in panels and radio debates about this issue. However, my remarks here, today, for the Board Room come from my other role--that of VSBA President and my responsibility to inform you, school board members and others, of the state of this policy debate from a neutral stance.
Part I. What is School Choice? Definitions
The term "school choice" really has multiple meanings. There are many forms of school choice and depending on the specifics, various school choice plans share some similarities, but also display many differences. It is probably better practice to call each type of school choice plan by a more precise term so the conversation/debate is more clearly focused. Since educational policy is a state responsibility, there is enormous variability among states and how they define school choice. Thus as I try to disentangle the complexities of school choice here, the reader should understand that even this attempt will over-generalize to some extent—and that states have unique policies. Here are the major categories of school choice:
1. Open enrollment. Open enrollment plans allow students to go to other public schools outside of their geographically-assigned local schools. Sometimes this option is restricted to the same district (if there are multiple schools available) and sometimes to a larger "region" (like the so-called Rutland model).
2. Charter schools. Charters schools are considered public schools and are funded through public monies. Charters are allowed to operate after being granted a "charter" to meet certain requirements (such as meeting specific academic goals). State regulations vary and the chartering agent can sometimes be the local school board, the state board of education, or in a few instances, a university or college. Charter schools are usually freed from most state regulations and are often designed to serve as models of innovation. In some states, parents or groups of teachers can apply for a charter. In some states, private schools may "convert" to charter status.
3. Vouchers. Usually this term is applied to plans that give students a "voucher" to attend any other school including independent (private) schools. In two widely publicized cases (Cleveland and Milwaukee), the vouchers can also be used for attendance in religious schools. In most voucher plans, the amount of the voucher is less than the actual tuition charged. In some places, the receiving schools agree accept that lower amount. In other cases, parents will need to privately make up for the difference. There are pending court cases surrounding this variety of choice--most dealing with the constitutional issue of separation of church and state.
4. The Vermont "tuition" plan. Here in Vermont, 93 communities
have had school choice options for many years. In towns that do not operate
their own schools for specific grade levels, the town pays tuition to other
schools outside of the "home" district. Some communities, for example,
have a local elementary school, but no high school. In these communities,
high school students are "tuitioned" to schools outside their district
borders. In other towns, there are no schools at all. By present Vermont
State statutes, the home (sending, resident) district will pay the announced
tuition for another public school, or the statewide average to an approved
private school. If the private school charges more, then the parents are
responsible for the overrun. In some Vermont towns, the voters have decided
to pay above that amount, so children can attend a private school, with
the excess tuition picked up by the home community. Religiously affiliated
schools are not part of the available options. Though similar to the "vouchers"
described above, this Vermont plan operates only in towns with no schools
for the appropriate grades. Therefore, there are no "home" or local schools
that experience a loss on enrollment because of students choosing to go
elsewhere.
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Part II. The
Present Vermont Context
Background:
Last March, the State Legislature added language to Act 71, the "technical
corrections" bill for Act 60 which called for the State Board of Education
to prepare an implementation plan for public school choice for grades 9
to 12 (that is, open enrollment). They asked the Department of Education
to also look into future expansion of the plan to include the elementary
level grades. As a response, the State Department of Education asked John
Nelson to research the issue and prepare a report on the various issues
that should be considered. This report was forwarded to the State Board
of Education and included six recommendations. At this time, the Senate
Education Committee is in the process of crafting language for open enrollment,
based on the State Board's recommendation and from testimony from interested
parties. At the time of writing this article, no bill has yet been presented
formally and the State Board has indicated that they are reconsidering
at least one of their original recommendations. This recommendation was
that the present Vermont tuition plan (#4 above) be gradually eliminated
and that all students have the same options. Since the choices are proposed
to include only public schools, under the initial recommendations the present
system allowing tuition payments for independent schools would be eliminated.
This generated a great deal of opposition from citizens who presently can
use the tuition arrangement for independent schools--and therefore would
see their choices restricted--while those in other towns would have their
choices expanded. The report on Public School Choice is available on the
Vermont
Department of Education web-site.
Meanwhile, this association (VSBA) has been discussing school choice and felt that we needed to come out with a position statement. In 1997, a lack of consensus within the Board of Directors and among the other board members in the state led us to remaining silent. This past summer (1998), with the general choice language imbedded in Act 71, we felt that more than our previous "no comment" position was called for. The Resolutions Committee discussed the issue in depth. Their recommendation was modified at the Board of Directors level and reflected, again, the general lack of consensus. We added the words, "If a system of choice is enacted" to imply that if we have this mandated, then we want certain issues addressed. This acknowledged that some school board members really felt that it was ill-advised to have choice in the first place, but that it was probably too late to turn back the legislative tide. That resolution passed during our Annual Meeting in late October.
VSBA Resolution on School Choice:
"If a system of choice is enacted, individual towns or union school
districts should have the authority to decide whether to allow Grade 9-12
students from other districts to attend their schools and receive the state
per-pupil block grant for these students. While a school may accept as
many new students as it chooses, no more than 5% of a school's previous
year's enrollment may leave a school in any one-year and [take their per-pupil
block grant with them.] The issue of transportation and special education
should be studied further to ensure students have equal access in a choice
system."
Present Activity:
On VSBA Board we have continued to discuss open enrollment. The Senate
Education Committee is asking for our opinion and we realized that our
resolution did not give Edie Miller, our Executive Director, much direction.
We decided at our last meeting to ask her to stress that any school choice
plan should require careful evaluation and suggested that money be set
aside to fund research into the reasons why specific schools may be losing
significant numbers of students, if that happens.
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Part III. Issues to Consider
There are many pragmatic and philosophical concerns about school choice. Both opponents and advocates ask complex questions that highlight the depth of the debate. I have gathered here some of the questions that people raise from both sides of the choice debate. My purpose is to encourage thoughtful (and respectful) conversation among school board members and their local communities. Though I have attempted to group the questions under various headings, the list is probably not complete, and the categories are not quite as neat as this indicates.
Questions for school board members to ask and consider:
Philosophical issues
That is our collective challenge.