The Network for Public Education Action Fund worked closely with other advocacy groups to Block a proposal to convert Impact Aid for public schools into vouchers. The Trump administration just announced that it would not support the legislation, which was opposed by groups representing military families.
“The Trump administration does not support a proposal to use a portion of Impact Aid program funding to help expand school choice to military-connected children, an administration official told Education Week.
“Sources within the administration say they want to give military families more choices. But they don’t think robbing impact aid is the way to do it. Impact aid dollars are used to help school districts make up for a federal presence, such as Native American reservation or military base. Under Banks’ proposal, which is based on a paper written by the conservative Heritage Foundation, part of the funding would instead flow directly to families in the form of Education Savings Accounts or ESAs. These accounts can be used for a range of services, including private school tuition, dual enrollment courses, or tutoring.
“Banks had planned to introduce the bill as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, which is up for debate in Congress soon. Supporters, including the Heritage Foundation, say the legislation would expand education options to an important population of students and would help military retention rates.
“But detractors, including the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools, worry that the proposal could divert as much as $450 million from impact aid.
“That would create “unprecedented uncertainty” for federally impacted school, wrote NAFIS in a recent report. “The potential for such a significant funding reduction would severely hinder a school district’s ability to maintain the staff, programs, services, and infrastructure necessary to support military connected students, a vast majority of whom are educated in public school districts.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I was raised in a military family (My father retired as a Lt. Colonel in the Air Force. I am a veteran (5 years in the Air Force), I work at the Pentagon. I can promise you that many military families support school choice, and wish to have more control over their children’s education. Now, they are subject to the whims of the school district, that they are assigned to. Some schools in military communities are terrific, some are not. The quality varies. Regardless, military families are stuck.
Military families usually do not vote in their community of residence. Therefore, they have no impact on the local school boards, nor on school policy. This is “taxation without representation” at its worst.
Due to the frequent transfers, many (not all) military spouses do not work outside the home for wages. School choice would certainly benefit families who home-school. No one gets rich in military service.
School choice will also serve to lower defense spending. You may not make the connection right off, but here it is. It costs a lot of money to train a pilot, or another person in a high-tech military specialty. Not having access to quality education for dependents is one of the reasons that military persons drop out of military service, and this forces the government to hire and train the replacement.
see
https://www.militarytimes.com/opinion/commentary/2018/02/27/commentary-school-choice-for-military-families-will-save-dod-money/
Many (not all) liberals want the military spending in this nation to be reduced. School choice for dependent children is one way.
Of course, the schools in the communities near military bases, want to get their hands on that money. And of course, if students are withdrawn from the school districts (and their money) it will impact on the school systems.
I wish that the opponents of school choice, would tell both sides of the equation. School choice takes money out of school systems, and it takes students out, as well.
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Charles,
How do you know what military families want? Have you conducted a survey?
Growing up in a military family and working at the Pentagon doesn’t give you any insight into what military families want.
The group representing military families opposed turning Impact Aid into choice. Do you belong to that group?
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Will save the DOD money??? I’m goinna go out on a limb here and say that the amount that the DOD spends on dependent education is barely discernible in the overall defense budget, probably not even enough to replace the cruise missiles used in the last attack against Syria.
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The savings cited were not on educational costs, but on the rather specious idea that highly (expensively) trained professionals such as pilots and other personnel would leave the military over the issue of their kids schools and then need to be replaced. Also ignored is the idea that far better schools are available and indeed affordable to military families who are generally not at all wealthy, often needing public assistance to get by. Then, consider the source of the article by Lindsey Burke who is a writer (propagandist) for The Heritage Foundation, as noted at the top: “Editor’s note: The following is an opinion piece. The writer is not employed by Military Times and the views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Military Times or its editorial staff.”
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I am so happy this noxious proposal has died. I live in a military community that serves the children of service members. This aid will help public schools, already in austerity mode, to better to their job.
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Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s dead. It’ll be refined and ready to add late at night to another bill sometime in the future. This is the kind of thing they’ll try to insert into an omnibus appropriations bill next spring after months of continuing resolutions because Congress can’t pass them in time by September 30.
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Greg,
You are right. The Far right will try to add an amendment in the dead of night to spend millions on vouchers for military kids. Their hatred for public schools knows no bounds.
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So we have to continue to be vigilant and aware.
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I agree. This administration cannot be trusted to keep any agenda item they prefer from reappearing in another way.
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I have not conducted a survey. But “Military Times” magazine did. See
https://forstudentsuccess.org/educating-military-connected-students-what-does-it-mean-for-military-readiness/
I work with many fine military persons, and with retired military persons, and veterans. These people put a high priority on their children’s education, because they have to endure separations during deployment. Many of the officers I work with are West Point grads, and some hold advanced degrees. These people understand the value of education, believe me.
I am just asserting that SOME military families want to have additional choices, in the education of their children. There is a diversity of opinion, of course. Military families that live at Fort Belvoir, VA, are generally delighted with the public schools in Fairfax VA, which are some of the finest in the nation.
How can you say that my experience as a military dependent has not given me insight? My family moved about 14 times, before I was 18 years old. I was shuttled in and out of seven different schools from K-12. I have experienced, up close and personal , the challenges that military dependents face. Do not criticize anyone, until you have walked a mile in their combat boots.
I do not belong to any groups, which oppose school choice. I do not belong to any group which advocates a position that I am opposed to.
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It’s great that public school supporters blocked it.
But what does it say about DC that our elected officials spent 6 months working on this, while doing absolutely nothing for public schools?
They provide no value to public school families. They should be replaced by people who support public education.
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Publicly-operated schools are a state/municipal responsibility. States/municipalities operate the public schools, and provide 90% of the funding. There is NO specific constitutional mandate for the federal government to become involved in education at all. None, zero.
The fact that the feds are leaving the operation of publicly-operated schools to the states/municipalities, is a good thing, and should be celebrated.
The state/municipal governments are much closer to the people, than the clowns in Washington DC.
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“. . . while doing absolutely nothing for public schools?
They provide no value to public school families.”
Keep at it Chiara, you’re 110% correct these people “do nothing” and “provide no value”.
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Great news!
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The dumpster administration didn’t want to put the military vote at risk by harming the schools of kids of military families. This was not an outbreak of common sense, just of loss avoidance.
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Jon. you missed the mark on this one. Giving military families more control over their children’s education, will not harm military families. Quite the opposite. The military parents that I have spoken with here at the Pentagon, are all excited about the possibility of school choice.
People who work in the defense department, military and civilian, are generally supportive of this administration, and are very glad to vote for politicians who support a robust defense for our nation.
Politics is the art of the possible. At this time, it just does not look possible, that a school choice program for military dependents will make it through the congress. The administration is just waking away from this one.
“Fight the battles you can win” – Sun-Tzu, in “The art of War”.
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The organization representing military families who use Impact Aid do not agree with you.
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Military families send their children to the public schools. I was born and bred in Hawai’i on O’ahu, a USA Military Outpost where ALL branches of the military are present. I was also a public school teacher for Hawai’i Public Schools and taught students from military families. Good grief. Public Schools are for the common good and so are public school teachers. I love public school teachers.
Blaming public schools and public school teachers is shameful and we know the reason for this attack on public schools and public school teachers is about $$$$$$ for the few at great cost to public good. What a scam.
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@ Yvonne: You say Q Military families send their children to the public schools END Q. I agree that most military families send their children to public schools, because they have no options available. In the USA, there are usually community schools nearby to the bases, and the dependent children go to the public schools.
I spent two years, stationed in Germany. The dependent children there did not attend the German public schools. The DODDSEUR (Department of Defense Dependent Schools, Europe) operated K-12 schools directly on the military bases, which conducted classes in English, and taught a standard curriculum, similar to a USA public school.
Most people do not know, that the Dept of Defense, operates more K-12 schools, than the Dept of Education.
Military parents generally do not earn a salary as high as civilians. Very few military families can afford private school tuition, so they are basically trapped in the public schools, in their community of assignment.
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Impact Aid replaces the taxes that public schools don’t get because of federal installations. Many Republicans know this and they don’t want to hurt their local schools.
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It is only fair, that if a military base is located near a community, and the community is unable to garner taxes from the federal installation, and the dependent children are utilizing the public schools, that the public school system be compensated. This is only just.
Nevertheless, the families (generally) do not vote in their community of assignment, and therefore have no input into the operation of the public school systems that their children attend.
This is “taxation without representation”, the public schools get the money, and the children, and can then tell the parents to “expletive”, because the parents are not voters.
How do you address this inequity?
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Charles,
Why don’t you urge your representatives to repeal Impact Aid?
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I reside in Virginia. Virginia gets a HUGE amount of defense spending. The Pentagon is in Virginia, the only cabinet level department headquarters, that is not located in WashDC.
The large number of military dependent children in Virginia, obviously have a financial cost, to the publicly-operated school systems in Fairfax County, and Arlington, and Norfolk/Hampton Roads.
It is only fair and just, that the feds cough up the costs incurred by the public school systems, which have the responsibility to educate military dependent children, but do not have the authority to garner tax revenue from the federal installations located in their communities.
“Impact Aid” is the least-bad alternative available at the present time. It is fair in some respects, and terribly unfair in others. Military families in Virginia communities are stuck in the public school systems, with no possibility of opting out. Military families do not vote in their community of assignment, so the school boards get to do as they wish, and pay NO heed to the wishes of the military families in their communities. The public school systems get the money, regardless. The public school systems are NOT accountable to the families. The public school systems get the federal money, with no accountability at all.
Until such time, as military families get school choice/ESA/Vouchers, this is way it is. I will not ask my political servants, to repeal Impact Aid, but I will encourage them to consider coming up with an alternative plan, which will include school choice.
You can’t throw out the baby with the bath water, just now. Amend, not repeal.
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Since you do not have children in the program, I hope they ignore you. You have no standing except as a choice ideologue
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Why do you hope that my Congressman (Beyer), and my senators (Warner/Kaine) ignore me? I am a citizen and a taxpayer, and I have just as much right to be heard and respected by these men, as if I had a dozen children in public schools.
The public schools in Virginia, have no qualms about taking my tax money to run their schools, I pay school taxes like everyone else. The school board, and the state dept of education are responsible to all citizens, including non-parents.
Are you advocating taxation without representation?
(Fact is, that my senators/congressman are not supportive of school choice at all. Any advocacy on my part would be a waste of time)
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Maybe they will figure out that you want to divert money from the vast majority of children in Virginia’s public schools so as to subsidize a handful who already go to madrassas, Yeshivas, and other religious schools. If they are good representatives, they will ignore you and protect the children and schools in their district.
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Warner/Kaine/Beyer are not supportive of school choice. Any communication that I have with them will not be productive.
I disagree with your assertion, though. I am not interested in diverting money from the public school system, to subsidize families who have already opted-out of the public school systems here in Virginia. If families who have already opted-out, get some of their school tax money rebated in some form, then fine. Not all persons who have opted-out choose to send their children to religiously-based schools. There are a number of fine secular private schools in my state. There are also a number of families who home-school. There are some excellent military schools as well.
I am interested in giving Virginia families more choices, and more alternatives than they presently have. School choice/vouchers will enable more families to opt-out. And school choice will benefit public schools, by making them feel the spur of competition.
Public schools are primarily a state/municipal enterprise anyway, and the feds do not have any mandate or any real jurisdiction. I wish the feds would just “butt out”, and abolish the Dept of Ed, and send the Washington bureaucrats packing.
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