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"School choice" bills are once again on the agenda in the 2021 #KSleg. Thread:
"Choice" initiatives, otherwise known as vouchers, fund private schools with public dollars. The most common are:
1.Vouchers: government writes a check for tuition at a private school. 2. Education Savings Accounts (ESAs): Gov puts tax funds in an account to pay for private education expenses.
3. Tuition Tax Credit Scholarships (KS & other states): people/businesses receive tax credit for donating to a "scholarship granting org." which writes check for private school tuition. The state foregoes that tax revenue.
Historical note: vouchers proliferated in the 1960s after the Brown v. Board of Education case. Southern parents sought vouchers to send their children to private schools rather than to desegregated public schools. (Photo credit: KS Historical Society)
In recent years, vouchers have been supported by free-market think tanks promoting privatization.
Public funding for private schools not required to serve all students on the same basis as public schools diverts $ from disadvantaged and disabled students with the greatest needs.
@KASBTopeka opposes any “school choice” programs to funnel public $ to private schools.
