Yes, Virginia, there is school choice; it's all in how you define the terms

The term “school choice” has become part of the educational lexicon. And like so many other issues, those who get to define the terms often win the debate.

In spite of some whiny rhetoric, parents have plenty of choices when it comes to their children’s education. Parents may choose from a variety of private schools. They may homeschool following a state curriculum or one of their own choosing if they get a religious exemption.

Parents and students also have many choices within the public school system. There are 18 governor’s schools in Virginia and five charter schools with more relaxed rules and regulations.

Most high schools offer vocational classes and/or industry certification in such fields as nursing, computers or automotive. Students can even take a wide variety of free classes online not offered in the traditional public school classroom.

Many schools have open enrollment, which allows parents to enroll their children in schools outside their district. No Child Left Behind has even made that easier. There are many other examples too numerous to mention of choices parents have over their children’s education.

Unfortunately, some politicians and organizations have attempted to define “school choice” as either you are for private school tuition vouchers or you’re not. Tuition vouchers and tax credits is money taken from all taxpayers and given to a small number of parents who choose to educate their children in private schools.

The history of school vouchers and tuition tax credits goes back to the days of segregation. Many Virginia parents used such public funding schemes to pay for their children’s private, segregated school education. Thankfully, the U.S. Supreme Court found such plans to be unconstitutional.

A number of private school voucher programs have been initiated in the U.S., primarily in urban school districts. One that received a lot of notoriety lately is in Washington, D.C., the first federally funded private school voucher program in the United States, providing scholarships of up to $7,500 for some low-income residents to send their children to local participating private schools.

Congress recently decided to allow the program to continue but will not pay for new students to enter the program. Often voucher plans simply help pay for children who are already enrolled in private schools. Voucher supporters like to focus more on how such plans will enable children going to “failing” schools to instead go to “better” private schools.

There’s also a mistaken notion that students who leave the public school system save the school district and the taxpayers money. Ironically, it’s often just the opposite.

If you pull one student out of a classroom, the teacher gets the same pay package. Heat, lighting, electricity, maintenance, transportation costs are all the same. What goes missing is the $5,000 in state aid the county would have gotten for that student.

Each student who goes to private school or is homeschooled instead of going to public school usually raises the taxes of everyone. The only time there are savings is if enough students leave the system in a particular grade to allow for the laying off of a teacher or to close an entire school.

The Virginia Constitution says that “government is instituted for the common benefit” and “no appropriation of public funds shall be made to any school or institution of learning not owned or exclusively controlled by the State or some political subdivision thereof.”

One would think that’s pretty clear that public money is not for private education. But those fighting the war on public education continue attempts at end-runs around the Virginia Constitution and raid the state treasury to benefit their own special interests. They will use such innocuous terms as “school choice” and saying that they only want what is best for all school children. But make no mistake, the practical effect is the degrading of public education in Virginia.

Legge’s column runs every other Thursday on the editorial page.