Voters to decide availability of school vouchers

By Chrissy Hatcher

Daily Staff Reporter

Supporters of Proposal 1 claim vouchers are the way to turn around failing public school systems in Michigan.

They've spent nearly $13 million trying to convince Michigan voters of that. Opponents have spent more than $6 million, making the fight the costliest political battle in state history.

The proposal would lift a 1970 state constitutional ban on using public tax money for private and parochial schools.

Students living in school districts with less than a two-thirds graduation rate would be able to use a voucher if admitted to a nonpublic school. Public school districts would also be able to approve vouchers through a public vote or by school board action.

Nonpublic schools that admit students using vouchers would receive half of the average state per-pupil public school funding - about $3,300.

Other sources of money, including credits, tax benefits, subsidies, grants and loans of public property, could also be used to pay for students attending nonpublic schools.

Kids First! Yes!, the group campaigning for Proposal 1, says vouchers can improve lagging school districts across the state.

"Currently in Michigan there are over 200,000 kids in schools that are not working." Kids First! Yes! spokesman Greg McNeilly said. "Quality education is a civil right."

McNeilly compared picking a school to shopping for groceries, saying quality would fail without competition. "Public schools will become better with the increase in competition between the pubic and private domains," he said. "If we can save one child, then it is worth it."

Laura Wotruba, a spokeswoman for the anti-vouchers group ALL Kids First!, countered McNeilly's position, saying vouchers are too simplistic. Wotruba said research shows smaller class sizes and increased parental involvement are more effective in improving schools.

"It will hurt kids in the long run," Wotruba said. "We would be using public money to support two school systems. Who is this going to help? Who is going to be left behind?"

Wotruba said public money should stay in public school systems and not be used for private or parochial education. "Private schools do not follow the same regulations as public schools," she said. "Private schools can pick and choose the students to be admitted. They do not have to reveal how they spend their money. Public schools do."

Proposal 1 would require teacher testing on academic subjects in both public and nonpublic schools that redeem tuition vouchers.

Kids First! Yes! points to similar programs in other states where vouchers have succeeded.

"There is nothing worse than what is happening right now," McNeilly said. "Look at Milwaukee's program. Their program works."

But Wotruba highlighted several differences between Michigan's proposal and the other voucher systems.

"Other programs have a lottery system where if there are more students than openings in the private school system, students will be chosen at random. Michigan does not have this," she said. "Other programs have an income qualifier for students to be able to use vouchers, aimed for low income families. Michigan does not have this."