Voucher plan debated

Terry Webster

Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2001 | 10:33 a.m.

President Bush's plan to offer vouchers for private schools is stirring heated debates in education circles in Nevada and throughout the nation.

For students attending schools that perform poorly for three consecutive years, Bush wants to provide $1,500 in federal funds for tuition at private schools, another public school or tutoring.

If Congress enacts the measure as part of Bush's education plan, it isn't likely to be popular with Nevada educators. If approved, the reforms would begin by next fall.

"I understand that the intent of vouchers is to create competition and open up new ideas," Clark County School Board President Mary Beth Scow said. "But I think this is something that needs to be looked into very carefully before we jump into it."

Even a top official at Alexander Dawson, a private school, wasn't thrilled about the prospect of vouchers.

"As an independent school, we are hesitant to accept any federal funds," Stephen Bowers, the head of the school, said. "One of our greatest strengths is that we are independent. When you accept grants or federal money, we believe you lose that independence."

Clark County School District Superintendent Carlos Garcia has said he opposes vouchers because they take needed funding away from public schools.

Joyce Haldeman, the school district's executive director of community and government affairs, said about $37 million would be siphoned off from public schools if Nevada loses even half of the per-pupil allotment for some 14,500 students currently in nonpublic schools.

Keith Rheault, deputy superintendent for the Nevada Department of Education, said the department also takes that stance.

Historically, so has the Nevada State Board of Education, which recently installed six new members on the 11-member board.

President David Sheffield said the new board has not discussed the issue. But he said he personally feels vouchers won't work in Nevada.

"It's one thing to do it in Las Vegas," he said. "But the rest of Nevada is so vast and rural, where would those students go?"

Clark County's highly transient student population would be another headache in maintaining a voucher system, Sheffield said.

"We already have problems addressing finances for schools," he said. "I just don't think vouchers would solve them."

In a written statement Tuesday, Gerald Tirozzi, executive director of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, said vouchers are not the cure for all that ails public schools.

"Unfortunately, as is often the case in the educational reform policy arena, there is a serious disconnect between the issues which need to be dealt with and the solutions put forth," Tirozzi stated. "To that point, many public officials and policy gurus are pressuring the Bush administration to advance vouchers as the silver bullet to improve America's public schools."

He went on to point out that virtually every state that has voted on vouchers rejected them.

Also on Tuesday, the American Federation of Teachers vowed to "vigorously oppose the president's voucher proposal." And the National Education Association announced its disapproval of Bush inclusion of vouchers in his education plan.

The American Federation of Teachers did, however, praise Bush's reading initiative.

Bush's proposal calls for annual test results for students in grades three through eight to evaluate student and school performance.

States would be required to publish the progress of students, listing them by race, income, gender and English proficiency. After a year aid would be given to schools that fail to show progress.

If a school does not make progress within two consecutive years, all students must be given the option of attending another public school. In the third year the voucher plan would go into effect.

Nevada currently has a three-year plan for evaluating school performance by using the results of the TerraNova exam. If a school performs poorly on the test for three consecutive years, the state can take it over. In the interim, schools deemed as needing improvement are asked to design corrective action plans.

Other provisions in Bush's education plan include: