A few years ago, a national survey reported that African American parents, by overwhelming numbers, supported school choices. Not choice. But choices. Plural.
The report (at http://tinyurl.com/y7d57cbg) said that 78 percent of black parents supported choices in their children's education. Even 70 percent favored vouchers to cover tuition at private schools. That parents in the African American community throughout the United States--from coast to coast, from border to border--like the thought of their children having more and better opportunities is not news. From New Orleans to Washington, D.C., survey after survey shows the same thing. But you don't have to look farther than Little Rock, Ark., and the waiting lists to get into charter schools, to prove the point.
Because our elected officials represent the people, and because (as the state motto says) We the People rule in this state, a lawmaker has come up with a bill to grant more money for school vouchers to low-income families. Blake Johnson has a proposal that the governor supports. Not only does the governor support it, he would fund it.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he'd use his office's discretionary fund to cover the $3.5 million price tag for a pilot program called the Capital Promise Scholarship. As a pilot program, it would run only five years, just to see how it works. Or doesn't. That's the beauty with pilot programs and even charter schools. If they don't work, they don't continue. When's the last time you saw a traditional public school shut down "only" because it didn't educate students?
This Capital Promise Scholarship would affect Pulaski County. Because 1. this is where the most kids live, and 2. this is where the most private schools are. About 500 students--from low-income households, those that qualify for free and reduced lunch--would be eligible.
For K-8 grades, the state scholarship would only cost 80 percent of what is sent to each public school. So it will cost the state less, and many private schools will offer scholarships, and some parents will pay some part of the cost if they can. It gives a chance for all stakeholders to be more involved in educating the next generation.
As usual, the governor's words on the matter was astute and understated: "This is an important and meaningful step in providing low-income families with a choice in the education their children receive. Pulaski County offers a unique opportunity for us to effectively evaluate a school choice scholarship program and measure student achievement . . . . Every student deserves the opportunity to reach his or her potential, and this bill will help them do just that."
Asa Hutchinson simply doesn't shout.
An old editor once told us to always concentrate on the opposition's strongest arguments, not its weakest. But for the life of us we can't find a strong argument against this idea. The papers quoted state Sen. Joyce Elliot, when she called the bill "insensitive" and "divisive" and "hurtful" because it targets "black and brown kids."
We can't get our minds around that.
First, no matter what SB620 might be, it damned sure ain't "hurtful" to the 500 or so low-income kids who'd be chosen to go to private schools. Divisive? How so? Insensitive? We think all those black parents out there who were told their children didn't win the lottery to get into charter schools last year might have another word, or two, about who's being insensitive.
"We're going to do something special for these few kids?" Sen. Elliot asked, according to the papers. "That goes against everything the state is supposed to be doing. We're supposed to be responsible for the education of all our kids, not just some."
The irony is that Senator Elliott, from Little Rock, is opposing her very constituents--those folks in Pulaski County who could benefit from this opportunity. The reality is that at least in Little Rock, the school district has been failing far too many low-income students for decades. And the state of Arkansas hasn't had a lot of success in the four years it has been running the LRSD. So why not try something different, and let these students from low-income families go to schools that are successful, schools where the more affluent parents send their kids?
There are reformers in Arkansas who want to put students first, and indeed, low-income students deserve better than what they have been offered in the past. This program is exactly along these lines. We hope Senator Elliott will join the momentum to help these students, in her own Pulaski County. And if the pilot program works, she should help expand it to other places in the state.
Let's do this. Let's create this pilot program, and see if these vouchers are as popular, and as needed, as they are in other cities across the nation. And if the education establishment is able to kill the whole idea, let them look these parents in the eye, and explain why.
Editorial on 03/23/2019