From Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina:
North Carolinians Eye Fate of D.C. Scholarship Program
Educational leaders speak out for more, not less, innovative programs
Raleigh, NC (March 12, 2009) ? North Carolina educational leaders are reacting to a U.S. Senate vote on Tuesday to cease funding the Washington, D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program as part of the omnibus spending bill.
An amendment failed this week that would have removed language cutting funding for the scholarship program from the stimulus bill. North Carolina Senator Kay Hagan (D), whose three children attended private schools, was among those who voted against the amendment to save the program, which currently serves more than 1,700 low-income, mostly minority children.
Darrell Allison is President of Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina, a statewide nonprofit organization that supports increased educational options. ?North Carolinians should heed these national decisions,? said Allison. ?In tough economic times, government needs an innovative approach to education now more than ever.?
Unless a separate reauthorization bill is passed, participating families who currently receive up to $7,500 a year for tuition at nonpublic schools will have to return to the public school system.
?This is another situation of lawmakers not making an informed decision or?worse?not funding an exploratory program because the results don?t fit their political agendas? said Julie Emmons, M.Ed., who is an adjunct instructor at Elon University. ?Research on K-12 vouchers and the D.C. program in particular compels us to look at the issue more openly. Unfortunately, most people put more research into what kind of car they buy than they do into the type of education our children receive.?
Emmons warned that the decision could have a trickle-down effect on educational policy at the state level. ?North Carolina lawmakers are also showing a tendency to ignore the efficacy of charter schools,? she said. ?The waiting lists at these schools demonstrate a growing disconnect between policy makers and parents.?
Principal Rita Haire at High Point Christian Academy expressed similar disappointment. ?The people who should be advocating for the success of at-risk, minority and low-income students are instead denying them the same educational opportunities that their own children enjoy,? said Haire, a doctoral candidate in education at UNC-Greensboro. ?The driving force behind such decisions should be what is in the children?s best interests, not politics.?
?We stand with the families in D.C. in hoping that Senator Hagan and her colleagues to put politics aside and pass a bill reauthorizing scholarships for the district?s neediest children,? Darrell Allison concluded. ?All children, regardless of socioeconomic background, deserve a chance to succeed.?
You might remember that PEFNC has pushed for education tax credits in North Carolina, including credits for parents of children with special needs.
