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Mar 12, 2008 11:52 am US/Central
Dropout Prevention Panel Addresses Vouchers
AUSTIN (AP) ―
A special state committee insisted that their strategic plan to reduce the number of high school dropouts in Texas does not allow for private school vouchers, despite a passage in their plan that has been widely criticized as such.
Public school advocates have questioned language in the plan, adopted Tuesday, that allows the Texas Education Agency to fund nonprofit groups to educate dropouts.
Key members of the High School Completion and Success Initiative Council said they don't believe a traditional school voucher program could be launched without approval of the Legislature, which has repeatedly rejected such a measure. Under a voucher program, students can attend any school their parents choose -- private or public -- at state expense.
The long-range plan was commissioned by the Legislature in an effort to reduce the dropout rate and improve the college and work force readiness of high school graduates.
Some council members have said they thought private school vouchers might be an option as an "alternative delivery system" referenced in the plan.
Before adopting its plan, the nine-member state panel reacted to the widespread criticism.
"I do not read this language in any way supporting a voucher program," said Don McAdams, a member of the council and former president of the Houston school board. McAdams is president of the Houston-based Center for Reform of School Systems.
McAdams asked other council members whether any thought vouchers could be implemented under their plan, and none voiced that opinion. State Education Commissioner Robert Scott, however, said allowing dropouts to re-enroll at a private school is not really a voucher option.
"That is not taking money away from school districts," he said. "That is a second-chance opportunity for a kid to get a diploma."
Other members said that private, nonprofit groups could be part of the solution if they are given contracts by the state to enroll students who have dropped out of regular schools.
The Texas Freedom Network, which opposes voucher programs, said after Tuesday's meeting that the council erred by not specifically ruling out vouchers as an option for student dropouts.
"They left the door open for the (education) commissioner to use a bureaucratic process to sneak through a voucher scheme that the Legislature won't pass and parents don't want," said Kathy Miller executive director of the group.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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