by AFT President Sandra Feldman
July, 2002

Voucher schools
must be held
to the same
standards as
public schools.

Last month, a sharply divided Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Cleveland voucher program. The battle over using public money to send children to private secular and religious schools will now move to individual states.

It is no secret that we disagree with the decision. We consider vouchers bad public policy, and we will continue to oppose new voucher laws at the same time as we fight to improve the public schools. After all, that’s where 90 percent of America’s children go. We will also continue to insist that voucher schools, financed by taxpayer dollars, be held to the same standards of equity and accountability as public schools.

So far, this has not been the case. Public schools are required by law to accept students of all races, religions, abilities, and economic backgrounds; they may not discriminate. The same rule applies when they hire teachers. And federal law requires that public schools provide a free and appropriate education for all students with disabilities. Private schools, on the other hand, are free to turn away children they think might be difficult or expensive to educate--or they can push the kids out later. This is their right as private schools, and I have no quarrel with it--as long as they do not expect public  funding. But voucher schools do draw from the same taxpayer money as public schools, and they must not be allowed to exclude a child because he is in a wheelchair or has a learning disability.

Mandatory Testing and Accountability

Voucher schools must also be held to the same standards as public schools when it comes to accountability for student achievement. Parents and the public have a right to know how well students are doing in any school that receives public funding. This transparency is designed to show when and where a system is failing and where additional help or resources are needed. Public schools are now required by law to test their students and to report the results of these tests to the public, and schools whose students consistently do poorly face sanctions.

Currently, voucher schools do not have to meet any of these standards. They are free to be excellent, but they are also free to fail. They will not have to test or reveal the results of any tests they do give, and there is no timely way for the public to know whether a voucher school is doing a terrific job or a terrible one--unless, of course, some big crisis occurs, like a school shutting its doors in the middle of the year (which has, incidentally, occurred more than once in the Milwaukee voucher program). Nor do teachers in private schools have to be certified or demonstrate any knowledge of the subjects they teach--something that new federal legislation will require for public school teachers. In some states, private school employees, including teachers, are not even subject to criminal background checks.

The Public’s Right to Know

Many voucher schools will pass muster, but the public needs to know about the ones that are failing. It also needs the power to intervene in these schools, a power that federal law now gives to states in the case of public schools that consistently fail. We have long supported redesigning low-performing public schools. The same thing must happen with low-performing voucher schools, especially since many of them will be serving poor children. But without transparency, without public test results, that cannot be done.

Americans have always insisted that schools funded with public money educate all comers. This has been a core value. Accountability, although a newer value, is nonetheless important. Shareholders require honest and open information about how well a company is doing--and we see how important it is given the Enron and WorldCom scandals. This kind of information is much more important when the education of children is at stake. We can recognize what is excellent, fix what is wrong, and make sure that "no child is left behind" only if voucher schools are open to the same scrutiny as public schools. And subject to the same sanctions.

These principles are simple and essential to schools that serve our children and our country. Voucher schools that refuse to be held accountable to the public must not get public dollars.