Vouchers. The word evokes a strong reaction among educational reformists and establishment lobbyists alike.  Currently, the state's gubernatorial race is buzzing with arguments on both sides of the issue. 

The voucher debate gained new life after the North Carolina General Assembly concluded its 2008 session without addressing crucial legislation that would have benefitted some of our state's most challenged and deserving children. 

Bolstered by national teachers' union support, state education lobbyists argued against educational tax credits for families with special needs children.  Leading the opposition, the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) sounded alarms that special needs tax credits would "provide an easy guide for pro-voucher advocacy groups" to "open the door for blanket tax credits/vouchers for parents of all children."

First, tax credits and vouchers are not one and the same.  Unlike vouchers, which redirect funding, tax credits give parents back a portion of expenses spent on their children's educational expenses, which is only fair considering that parents must pay taxes for public education whether or not their children attend public schools.  Secondly, North Carolina already has an educational voucher program that is fully supported by the education establishment.

That's right.  Educational vouchers are alive and well in North Carolina.

As described on the North Carolina Division of Child Development's website, the state's pre-K educational voucher program relies on government funding "to provide subsidized child care services to eligible families through a locally administered state-supervised voucher system." 

Under the system, parents "are free to choose a child care arrangement that best fits their needs" as long as the provider, public or private, participates in the voucher program.

If educational tax credits for special needs students are considered a threat to introduce vouchers, it seems odd that an actual voucher system not only escapes attack, but is lauded by the same groups that oppose any form of choice.  After all, if the system works so well at the pre-K level, why wouldn't policymakers expand the system into K-12 public schools?

Deanna Randle, a former public school teacher who currently runs a participating day care center, would like to see just that.  She believes that the pre-K system demonstrates the success of parental school choice.  "It obviously doesn't hurt enrollment in government programs like Smart Start," she said.  "If anything, there is a higher standard across the board because all providers have to be competitive in terms of quality."

All this talk of higher standards and freedom of choice couldn't possibly go over well with North Carolina's status-quo education establishment.  But why so selective in voicing opposition and flexing their legislative and political muscle? 

North Carolinians, especially the parents of special needs children left waiting another year, deserve an answer.

Darrell Allison (President, Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina)

Related Links

1. http://www.pefnc.org