In light of the opinion editor’s recent call for purpose and accuracy on the opinions page, I feel this is a rather apt moment to discuss the ill-informed arguments of my colleague Tray Smith with regards to the new education bill.
As a caveat, I am well aware that I will be branded as a liberal union supporter with no concern for children, but this is part of the problem that I must address. Political dogma is not a substitution for fact. Regardless of your opinion on unions, we must understand the basic principles established by this bill and learn what actual reform means.
Mr. Smith argues that the new education bill represents a refreshing change from the “decades of mismanagement inspired by the AEA” because it initiates a tax credit for families to send their children to private schools and reduces the amount of restrictions necessary to establish a charter school.
Unfortunately, this opinion has little basis in reality. First, the AEA is not responsible for the management of public schools – that responsibility falls on the local school boards, the state school board and the Alabama legislature. If you have questions about why our state regularly borrows money from the Education Trust Fund to pay down its $60 billion in debt, why teachers have not received adequate funds for supplies in over a decade or why funding sources for schools always run short, look no further than your state legislature.
Do not rely on reactionary opinion about unions when you question why students do not have access to proper equipment. They do not manage or create those funds, but your elected officials most certainly do.
Secondly, Mr. Smith claims that the tax credit will allow for three things: 1.) an unbounded opportunity for parents in failing school districts to send their children to private schools, 2.) a decrease social barriers in all-white private institutions, and 3). a new era of achievement based on performance and not demographics, especially for poor rural areas. These are all laughably absurd assertions.
Tax credits, much like tax cuts, cost the government money, which translates into fewer funds for schools due to restricted revenue sources. Nothing is free, and this almost entirely invalidates Mr. Smith’s argument that credit will not cost Alabama schools. Also, you must understand basic math. 20 is less than 80, thus public schools will lose 80 percent of the per capita cost per pupil for each one who leaves. How does that not constitute harm?
More importantly, how much you can get for these credits is based off of what you make and how much you owe. When the median income in rural Alabama counties is just $20,000 a year, they cannot expect a $4,000 credit for their children. Moreover, Mr. Smith’s argument for the cost of private schools is wrong – the average cost of a private institution in Alabama is $10,000 a year, not four. This credit will help middle class families with moderate means send their children to private schools at a lower cost; it will do nothing at all for the majority of poor families in the state.
Similarly, the social argument he poses relies entirely on assumption. The lawmakers have pledged that no school will be forced to accept any student. This means that schools that were designed to segregate, i.e., most of the schools in the Alabama Independent School Association, will not open their doors to new students. Additionally, suburban schools are safe from admitting any student they do not wish to.
The recent bill passed poses an evasion of the school problem, not reform. Reform attempts to improve existing systems, not eradicate them by draining funding. School reform would be requiring teachers to do regular continuing education and training, partnering with community programs for tutoring or counseling services, implementing a new curriculum based on academic research or allowing school principals and teachers to implement new measures to improve their school. None of these things involve a tax credit or a charter school.
Before you misguidedly place blame on the AEA for monopolizing parents in the state, consider carefully who makes education policy decisions. Ask yourself if you would attempt to implement new measures or regulations for emergency room procedure if you had never been a nurse or an E.R. doctor? If you want real school reform, realize that those who make decisions about education spend no time in the schools at all. They are entirely unaware of what it takes to manage a classroom, much less an entire school system.
John Speer is a graduate student in secondary education. His column runs weekly on Wednesdays.
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