Politico reports that school choice advocates are flocking to Capitol Hill in hopes of getting federal legislation to promote vouchers. The irony of vouchers is that they have been on state ballots many times but have never won popular approval. Most recently, they were turned down in Florida by a decisive majority, although that didn’t stop the state legislature from pushing vouchers wherever they could get them past the courts. When the Utah legislature passed the nation’s most sweeping voucher bill in 2007, giving vouchers to all students to attend a private or religious school, voters rejected the plan by a 60%+ margin in November 2007. Voucher advocates who paid for the campaign to pass them (led by the CEO of overstock.com) said that the voters were stupid and had failed an I.Q. test.
Nonetheless, expect the Republican Congress to come up with school choice legislation. Will President Obama sign it?
SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK HITS THE HILL: School choice advocates will pack serious star power this morning on Capitol Hill at a gathering celebrating National School Choice Week. House Majority Leader John Boehner is on tap to give the keynote address and Reps. Steve Scalise, John Kline, Todd Rokita and Virginia Foxx as well as Sens.Tim Scott and Ted Cruz are slated to attend. A parent of a D.C. voucher recipient is also scheduled to speak, and organizers expect more than 250 attendees. The event starts at 8:50 a.m ET at the Cannon House Office Building, Room 345.
– Indiana Rep. Luke Messer, who was recently elected to a position in House leadership, is continuing his push on school choice: He’s scheduled to be master of ceremonies at today’s event and is also reintroducing a school choice proposal he put out last year. Vouchers might not fit into the “political reality” of the push to reauthorize No Child Left Behind this year, Messer said Tuesday, but he emphasized that he’s in it for the long haul and that “every idea has its time.” More from Maggie Severns: http://politico.pro/1v0ERc2.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Why is the federal government funding education? I guess they have money to spare.
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Perhaps we need to organize a public education week on capital hill…
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Oh, God, please don’t. They’ll put in new mandates and then forget to fund them. NCLB, RttT and Common Core is enough. Public schools are barely keeping their heads above water as it is. They don’t need the “best and the brightest” throwing them another anvil.
We’re probably better off unrepresented in Congress. The only time they mention public schools is to threaten sanctions or deliver another stern lecture.
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“School choice advocates will pack serious star power this morning on Capitol Hill at a gathering celebrating National School Choice Week. House Majority Leader John Boehner is on tap to give the keynote address and Reps. Steve Scalise, John Kline, Todd Rokita and Virginia Foxx as well as Sens.Tim Scott and Ted Cruz are slated to attend. ”
When’s the last time any of these passionate education advocates worked on behalf of a public school in their state or district?
Oh, right. They only show up there locally, when it’s time to get re-elected. This is exclusively for the DC crowd.
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Since 1966 there have been 28 state referenda on vouchers or their variants from Florida to Alaska and from Massachusetts to California with rejection averaging 2 to 1. All 28 are summarized in my article “The Great School Voucher Fraud” accessible on line at arlinc.org. — Edd Doerr
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Disgusting.
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Maybe John Boehner can explain why Ohio schools now have to “compete” for the tax money we all just sent to Columbus in the hopes we’ll earn a “Straight A Grant” if another school “loses” the competition.
It’s our money. I don’t know why I want to compete with other public schools to get some of what we all sent in back. I think we should join forces and ALL get a piece of the money we all just sent to the state before it gets sucked into the great maw of ed reform consultants and tech purchases. Hunger games for schools doesn’t benefit me. I live and work here. I’m not interested in creating “loser schools” and “winner schools” under the Arne Duncan theory.
We already earned the money we sent to the state. Why do Ohio public schools kids have to “earn” it again by meeting ed reform requirements? That’s nuts.
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