|
 |
EXPANDING
Educational Opportunities in Missouri
|
A
look at Milwaukee’s Successful CHOICE
Low-income parents should have the opportunity to give their children
the same education as those in the higher-income brackets. While
most agree with this, the means to do so causes great debate.
MILWAUKEE MODEL
At a recent RCGA Board of Directors meeting, noted educator Dr.
Howard Fuller, professor of education and Founder/Director of the
Institute for the Transformation of Learning at Marquette University,
Milwaukee, Wis., enlightened the group to an idea that is working
in Milwaukee.
Dr.
Howard Fuller, Marquette University |
|
Fuller was instrumental in founding the Milwaukee Parental School
Choice Program 15 years ago, after having served as superintendent
of public schools in Milwaukee. This program, which uses the school
voucher system, strives to give low-income families in Milwaukee
the opportunity to choose the city school they feel will better
educate their child, whether it’s public or private.
“This program was instituted because low-income Blacks were not
being educated in the Milwaukee public schools,” Fuller says. “There
had been a series of community struggles going on over time to do
something about it.”
To qualify, families have to be at 175 percent of the poverty line.
Once that is documented, the family picks a school inside the City
of Milwaukee. The parent then receives a voucher that allows the
school to get money from the state to fund the child.
Fuller says there are two “choices” involved in the MPSC program.
“First, the parent has to choose which school for the child. Then
the schools make a choice as to whether or not to take part in the
program. If they do participate then they have to take all the kids
that are eligible.”
Of the 95,600 in the Milwaukee Public School System, 15,435 students
participate in the Milwaukee Parental School Choice program. Some
of the Milwaukee Parental School choice students are in parochial
schools.
“There are a variety of different forms of choice,” Fuller says.
“Vouchers are only one form. Charter schools and tax credits are
another form, and within tax credits, there are two types. One is
where businesses are willing to contribute to scholarship funds
that give scholarships to low income students for a tax break. The
other is the individual tax credit, but that cannot be used for
tuition or educational materials.”
He added that Milwaukee averages about two visits a month from other
cities and states interested in enacting a similar program.
THE MISSOURI INITIATIVE
In March, the House Special Committee on Urban Affairs approved
a bill moving through the Missouri Legislature that would allow
$40 million in tax credits to be used to enable qualifying urban
public school students in the Kansas City, St. Louis and Wellston
Public School Districts to attend private and parochial schools.
The program, called the Missouri Student Success Scholarship Program,
would provide tax credits for individuals and corporations contributing
to the scholarship program. The average amount of the scholarships
granted by an organization cannot exceed $5,000. Therefore one student
may receive $8,750 and another $1,000 and still comply with the
rules.
To be eligible, students must come from families with an income
of no more than 225 percent of the federal poverty guideline, and
have a grade point average below 2.5.
Rep. Ted Hoskins (R-St. Louis) says that these three districts were
chosen after looking at the school lunch program. “The ‘Free and
Reduced Plan,’ as part of the National School Lunch Program, is
a good indicator of income levels. If we look at school districts
that have 80 percent to 85 percent of their students qualifying
for this plan, then that’s an indication that we have an extremely
low income base in that district. These three districts qualify
higher than most.”
A bill similar to this one died in the house last year.
Rep. Carl Bearden (D-Berkeley) says that the difference in the two
bills is that this bill affects the St. Louis City, Kansas City,
and Wellston School Districts.
“Last year, we had a lot of resistance to applying it to all districts,
but this year, we wanted to focus on the districts where we had
demonstrably the biggest educational problems in the state,” he
says.
Bearden says that the St. Louis City School District fails to graduate
42 percent of their students, with the Kansas City School District’s
number at 25 percent.
“Those districts have been provisionally accredited for years and
years and years,” he says. “We’ve spent billions of dollars in those
two districts to no avail. We’re still failing our kids.
“One of the most telling statistics,” he adds, “is that our Department
of Corrections in Missouri is the eighth largest school district
in the state. 57 percent of our inmates in the prison system today
are non-high school graduates, with 42 percent of those inmates
from Kansas City and St. Louis.
“You can see that in St. Louis, Kansas City and most urban cores,
there are only three choices for kids who are in failing schools
like we see here,” Bearden says. “That’s prison, social welfare
or death.”
Donayle Smith, director of School Choice Missouri, says that this
program, as opposed to school voucher programs, does not take money
from the state and federal government.
“This money is raised through donations by corporations or individuals
who decide to give to this particular effort,” she says. “Then,
they receive a tax credit.
These contributions would be made to Scholarship Granting Organizations,
who would provide scholarships to eligible students.
“These SGO’s could be non-profits like the Urban League or United
Way,” Smith says. “It would be up to them to decide how to distribute
their scholarships.”
The State would provide tax credits for donations to these organizations
up to $40 million annually. Of that amount, 90 percent must be spent
on scholarships or supplemental educational services like tutoring,
books, transportation or technology.
“One of the advantages of this program is that it does not limit
choices for any of these families,” Smith says. “They can use the
scholarship to attend public schools outside of the district. A
student in St. Louis could go to Clayton. Also, most of the parochial
elementary schools have annual tuitions of $3,800 so the $5,000
would cover that.”
Parochial high schools average $5,700. Non-parochial private schools
are approximately $3,500 with $8,900 for high school. Of the 38,000
students in the St. Louis Public School System, 90 percent or approximately
34,000 would be eligible for this program.
The School Choice Missouri initiative is enjoying bipartisan support,
including Gov. Matt Blunt and St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay.
Jessica Robinson, press secretary for Gov. Matt Blunt, says that
he is “supportive” of the idea of all students having the opportunity
for a good education.
Similar scholarship programs have been enacted in Arizona, Florida,
and Pennsylvania.
“The bottom line is that programs such as these give opportunities
to kids in low income families and who are not performing well in
school,” Bearden says. “This is an opportunity to change their environment
and an opportunity to succeed in their educational endeavors.”
Every child needs a chance to perform at his or her highest level.
An investment in their education will give them this chance. |
|
|
|
|
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
|
