Federal Programs of Parental Choice in Education
Rationale:
Comprehensive programs of parental choice in education can help promote educational excellence by fostering basic reforms and creating a constructive competitive educational climate which is responsive to parental concerns and helps to improve achievement for all students. Enhancing local parental control over choice issues should result in a more just distribution of tax funds, accountability of professionals and increased local educational autonomy and flexibility.
Concerning the constitutional question, the law is quite clear that the First Amendment makes individuals eligible to receive federal assistance, in this case parents, who are then free to use such assistance at any school they choose, even religiously affiliated schools.
Guidelines:
- An essential element of any new Federal campaign to improve all American schools must include a serious commitment to programs of choice for all parents. The participation of parents and students who choose private religiously affiliated schools in any federally funded program is absolutely essential to insure the fullest range of educational choice.
- Priority should be given to assistance for low and middle income families, enabling them to increase educational options for their children.
- Such programs should respect the integrity and identity of existing private schools with respect to their policies and practices. However, we recognize that existing civil rights laws and a process of accountability will likely apply to such programs.
- This commitment must be supported with a sufficient level of new federal funds to cover all necessary costs of significant demonstration programs as well as to provide maximum incentives which would insure that comprehensive demonstration projects actually occur.
In examining various educational choice proposals a number of issues have been identified that may need careful review to determine whether you would think they are appropriate items to include in an initiative you would want to participate in. Some items may raise questions as to whether the program would negatively impact on the nature of the Catholic/religious school while others may not have this affect. These items are NOT provided in any priority order and they do NOT provide an exhaustive list of possibilities. Please consider the following items:
- Enrollment: does the proposal mandate "open enrollment" or a "lottery " system to select all applicants; or require the reservation of a certain percentage of spaces for applicants; or limit your right to give priority to siblings or parishioners; or require inclusion of the educationally or physically handicapped; or phase the program in a grade at a time after the initial grade selection; or not include both elementary and secondary grades in its full form; or limit choice benefits to new students only?
- Religious preference: does the proposal include "religion" in any non- discrimination clause; or forbid requiring attendance in religion classes and/or religious activities unless a parent "opted into" such a requirement; or allow parents to "opt out" of such a requirement; or forbid using any choice funds for salaries of teachers of religion?
- Funding: does the proposal require the acceptance of the "voucher/scholarship" as full payment; or limit the amount of tuition increases annually; or require independent auditing of fiscal records to verify control and stability; or provide funding for transportation; or establish a set "pro rata" reimbursement if a student withdraws or a school drops out of the choice program?
- School regulation: does the proposal enforce current civil rights, health and safety laws; or require independent evaluation of the choice/school program (e.g.- using state or independent assessment procedures); or require participation in programs related to health and human sexuality which might conflict with Church teaching; or regulate the conditions under which a school might be able to withdraw from the program (e.g. - defining what a "just cause" for a school's withdrawal might be and how effected students are to be accomodated); or regulate school accreditation/licensing and teacher certification; or include additional regulation of the school curriculum or operation not currently in force?