Bonamici Denounces School Choice, Claiming It Leads To Discrimination, ‘Increased Segregation’

2 days ago

During Tuesday’s House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing, Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) questioned experts about the consequences of school choice policy on public school funding.

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Transcript

00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to the witnesses for being here today.

00:04I want to begin by acknowledging the role that public schools play in our communities,

00:09our economy, and in democracy.

00:11With the overwhelming majority of students in public schools, public education is the

00:16foundation on which we build our future.

00:19Public schools serve the needs of every child, regardless of background or income.

00:24That's why we need to protect public education and, importantly, funding for public education

00:29from voucher scams that funnel taxpayer dollars into private institutions.

00:34That being said, I, and most Democrats, support a wide range of options within the public

00:39school system.

00:40In many states and districts, families have choices among magnet schools, public charter

00:45schools, as the Chairman mentioned, and intra-district and inter-district open enrollment policies.

00:50For example, in the district I represent, we have some of the top magnet programs in

00:54the state, including Portland's Benson Polytechnic High School, a CTE magnet school that offers

00:59major programs in automotive, building construction, electrical engineering, health occupations,

01:05media production, and more.

01:07And the Beaverton School District has many choices, an international magnet, arts and

01:11communication magnet, and the Beaverton Academy of Science and Engineering.

01:15These valuable opportunities are offered to all students and, most importantly, they are

01:20offered at free public schools that are required to comply with the Individuals with Disabilities Act.

01:26I want to note that the Chairman mentioned woke ideologies, and this is just another

01:31reminder that the federal government does not, by law, set curriculum.

01:35But let's talk about universal vouchers, which are often pushed with little or no income

01:40restrictions, meaning that every student, whether from a single-parent home where the

01:44mom is working and making minimum wage, or from a billionaire family like Elon Musk's,

01:49they could all receive the same amount of taxpayer money, all while the public schools

01:53that serve the rest, the majority, are left to do more with less.

01:58And in this discussion, we must consider rural areas.

02:01In the district I represent, I have urban areas, but I have a lot of rural school districts

02:05where the public school is the heart of the community, and the only option is a public

02:10school.

02:12So in those rural school districts, I know what kind of reaction I would get if I told

02:15them that part of their public school funding was cut, but here's a voucher so your student

02:19can go to another school.

02:20There is no other school.

02:23And there's very little chance of bridging that funding gap, leaving them to either make

02:27cuts, increase class sizes, or both.

02:29And that's the main reason why several states, including Nebraska, Kentucky, Colorado, they've

02:35all rejected voucher schemes.

02:37Moreover, what message does it send to teachers and students who are already feeling the strain

02:41of a system that's underfunded and overburdened?

02:44Stripping away already-strained public schools of more funding to support private schools.

02:48That's not the answer.

02:50The solution is clear.

02:51We must invest in public education so every child has the chance to thrive in the classroom.

02:57It's also worth noting that voucher schemes permit private schools to discriminate against

03:02students based on disability, religion, and other factors that have, and they've also

03:06been found to increase segregation.

03:09And people across the country remain legitimately concerned about the use of taxpayer dollars

03:14for religious schools because it is so intertwined that it violates the constitutional principle

03:19of separation of church and state.

03:21And for many reasons, the argument to support universal vouchers based on NAEP scores, it's

03:26really not persuasive.

03:28Test scores are one way to evaluate student success.

03:31We had a global pandemic that led to social isolation, and according to the American Psychological

03:36Association, there's a mental health crisis among youth.

03:40There's increasing, and some say excessive, use of electronic devices by kids, and importantly,

03:46the scores of high performers stayed pretty much the same.

03:48It was scores for low performers that plummeted.

03:52That's not a case for vouchers.

03:53It's a case for funding, fully funding Title I, McKinney-Vento, and other programs that

03:59support low-income students.

04:01We cannot ignore facts.

04:03Voucher programs do not improve student outcomes.

04:06Research shows that in states with large voucher programs, like Louisiana, Indiana, Ohio, students

04:12using vouchers tend to perform worse than their peers in public schools.

04:16These programs are a misuse of taxpayer dollars, and they contribute, again, to discrimination,

04:21segregation, and a lack of accountability.

04:24Speaking of a lack of accountability, a recent study about the Arizona voucher program found

04:29that the state imposes no transparency or accountability requirements on private schools

04:33that receive taxpayer dollars through the state's voucher program.

04:37And additionally, Arizona parents who are shopping for a school say it's difficult to

04:41get any independently verified information about the quality of instruction or financial

04:46stability of these private schools that are getting public dollars.

04:50Public education is already under attack from this administration.

04:53We know that with the looming threat of an executive order to dismantle the Department

04:57of Education.

04:59Let's not make things worse by allowing the use of public funding for private schools.

05:03So instead of funding private schools, we need to invest in public education so every

05:07child, no matter their zip code, deserves access to a high-quality education.

05:12I look forward to the conversation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Bonamici Denounces School Choice, Claiming It Leads To Discrimination, ‘Increased Segregation’

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