Fwd: [arn2-strategy] Missouri tax credit voucher bill sparks battle

[Susan Harman <susanharman@igc.org>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Peter Campbell <campbellp@mail.montclair.edu>
> Date: Wed Mar 15, 2006  12:16:11 PM US/Pacific
> To: ARN State <ARN-state@yahoogroups.com>, ARN Main List 
> <arn-l@interversity.org>, arn2-strategy > <arn2-strategy@yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: [arn2-strategy] Missouri tax credit voucher bill sparks battle
> Reply-To: arn2-strategy@yahoogroups.com
>
> Missouri tuition bill sparks battle
> By Matt Franck
> POST-DISPATCH JEFFERSON CITY BUREAU
>
>
> Below is the link to the story.
> http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/missouristatenews/
> story/30FDA26F4851659B862571320024DAD5?OpenDocument
>
> Here is the story.
>
> JEFFERSON CITY
>
> Few, if any, issues divide the Missouri Legislature in as many ways as 
> a
> plan to use $40 million in tax credits to send about a tenth of urban
> public school students to private schools.
>
> That point was driven home repeatedly in a fiery six-hour hearing 
> Monday
> night that pitted Democrats against Democrats and Republicans against
> Republicans and split members of the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus.
>
> To hear it from one side, the bill would serve as a lifeboat to 8,000
> students in failing schools, offering average scholarships of $5,000
> to the
> private or public schools of their choice.
>
> In the eyes of critics, the bill is a precursor to vouchers, a plan 
> that
> could drain the state of money better spent on more proven education
> reforms.
>
> The divisions speak to an even larger disagreement over what's causing
> urban districts such as St. Louis Public Schools to fail, and what will
> improve student performance.
>
> For the moment, the bill appears to have momentum. The House Special
> Committee on Urban Affairs approved it in the wee hours Tuesday.
> Supporters
> include top House leaders Speaker Rod Jetton, R-Marble Hill, and 
> Speaker
> Pro Tem Carl Bearden, who is sponsoring the measure.
>
> Bearden, R-St. Charles, described the bill as a chance of a lifetime
> that
> would "positively affect the education of thousands of Missouri
> children"
> by forcing public schools to compete to retain students.
>
> Bearden said the bill had erroneously been equated with vouchers,
> which use
> tax money to pay for private school tuition. In reality, he said, no
> state
> money would be used directly to send students to private school.
>
> Like programs already in place in Florida and Arizona, the bill would
> offer
> a tax credit to those who contribute to an approved nonprofit
> scholarship
> organization. The organizations would use the donations to grant
> scholarships averaging $5,000 to send pupils to private schools or
> higher-performing public schools.
>
> Only students previously attending the St. Louis, Wellston and Kansas
> City
> school districts would be eligible. Students with high grade-point
> averages
> and those from affluent households would be disqualified.
>
> The bill is similar to one that died in the House last year. But some
> say
> this year's version has better prospects, given that it affects fewer
> school districts and defines student eligibility more narrowly.
>
> The bill is opposed by a wide range of education groups, from teachers
> unions to administrators to school boards.
>
> Critics say the bill could reduce state tax collections by as much as
> $40
> million. They say that money should instead be spent on preschool or
> reducing class sizes.
>
> Bearden said the costs might not add up to $40 million. He said those
> claiming the new tax credit might have otherwise filed for one of the
> state's many other tax credits. If so, he said, the total tax relief
> provided by the state would not increase.
>
> But Rep. Bob Johnson, R-Lee's Summit, said the bill was almost
> certain to
> be costly for the state. Johnson said the tax credit was akin to
> spending
> state dollars on private schools. At a minimum, he said, private 
> schools
> that receive the scholarships should submit to state exams, something
> the
> current bill does not require.
>
> Last year, the bill was debated in the House but failed to advance 
> after
> critics loaded on amendments that negated the bill's purpose. This
> year, a
> House floor debate is expected in the next few weeks. A Senate 
> committee
> has heard another version of the bill but has yet to approve it.
>
> As was the case last year, the bill is backed by a peculiar political
> coalition that unites several Republicans with a handful of black urban
> lawmakers. They share a common contempt for what they describe as the
> failures of urban districts.
>
> "The system has collapsed in the city of St. Louis, Kansas City and
> Wellston," said Rep. Ted Hoskins, D-Berkeley. "Collapsed. Obsolete.
> Can't
> function."
>
> Hoskins, who heads the Urban Affairs Committee, was joined by two other
> black urban lawmakers in voting for the bill. At the hearing, they
> repeatedly attacked urban school districts, as did several parents who
> testified about their desire to send children to private schools.
>
> Sen. Maida Coleman, D-St. Louis, said supporters of the bill were
> unfairly
> attacking a few districts that needed more support from the state.
>
> "St. Louis Public Schools does as good as it can with what it has been
> given to work with," she said.
>
> Passions ran deep at the marathon hearing. At one point, Rep. Rodney
> Hubbard, D-St. Louis, accused critics of the bill of not truly
> supporting
> urban students. Hubbard, who is black, speculated that those
> attending the
> hearing would "clutch their purses" if confronted by him in other
> circumstances.
>
> Others traded barbs over the fact that some lawmakers had left the St.
> Louis Public Schools under the voluntary desegregation program. Mary
> Armstrong, president of the union representing St. Louis teachers, said
> Hubbard "ran away" from city schools when he transferred to the
> Mehlville
> district.
>
> One witness accused lawmakers of being influenced by political
> contributions from a national school-choice group. According to a
> report by
> the group the Missouri Citizen Education Fund, the political action
> committee All Children Matter donated more than $100,000 to members
> of the
> House since 2004, most of it to members who supported last year's
> version
> of the bill.
>
> Several members of the committee angrily dismissed any connection
> between
> the contributions and their support for the tax credit program.
>
> Joining in support of the bill, at least tentatively, was Rodney Boyd, 
> a
> lobbyist for St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay. Boyd said the mayor 
> supported
> the scholarship program only because St. Louis schools were not fully
> accredited by the state. If they were to regain that status, he said,
> the
> mayor would no longer back the plan.
>
> The bill is HB1783.
>
>
>
>
>
>
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