In Our Opinion A delegation of public school board members from Macomb County went to the nation's capital recently to talk about a wide range of issues affecting public education.
The board members quickly focused on the school voucher petition drive, which its Republican backers in Michigan want to place on the November ballot -- much to the chagrin of fellow Republican Gov. John Engler.
The board members' visit proceeded Betsy DeVos' resignation as state GOP chairwoman -- a bombshell of sorts, coming prior to the Feb. 22 Republican primary, that is linked to a spat between DeVos and Engler over school vouchers.
The 17 Macomb County school board members attended the National School Boards Association conference in Washington, D.C., and also met with U.S. Rep. David Bonior, D-Mount Clemens, to discuss the hotly contested voucher issue.
Bonior shared some of his own reservations over the voucher concept, aligning him with Engler on the voucher issue.
Voucher opponent Liz Lenhard, a Warren Woods board member, said, "We are not in favor of giving public funds to private schools."
Theresa Genest, a Roseville school board member, raised the question of whether or not school vouchers are unconstitutional.
A U.S. District judge in Ohio ruled that the voucher program operating in Cleveland public schools for the past two years was unconstitutional. The judge's decree is being appealed.
Bonior said voucher money "goes to a small number -- maybe 10 percent. That takes away from the needs of the 90 percent."
Engler has warned Republicans that a voucher proposal on the November ballot would not be in the best interests of GOP candidates who want to retain a majority in the state House and Senate.
He argued that some of his school reform programs already are working to improve public education, and the charter school academy concept he pioneered in Michigan even has caught the attention of the White House.
President Bill Clinton supports the charter school concept and urges its expansion in school districts across the nation.
The growing rift over school vouchers within the state GOP became most evident when DeVos announced Wednesday she was stepping down from her office.
DeVos and her billionaire husband, Amway Corp. President Richard DeVos, are heading up the voucher petition drive.
The governor is on the right track on the voucher issue, a position we view as his rising above partisan politics for the good of public education.
Diverting public taxpayer funds to private or parochial schools raises a constitutional question.
A charter school is part of the public school arena, under the jurisdiction of public school curriculum and testing codes, and it must abide by the separation of church and state.
We doubt that a private or religious school, accepting voucher students, would want to open its books to public scrutiny.
That's why Macomb public school board members are speaking out, as they did in Washington.
Engler's above-partisan-politics opposition to the voucher petition drive deserves support.
The governor's stand is in the best interest of all schoolchildren.
Feb 4 2000 12:00AM By Macomb Daily Editorial Board
©The Macomb Daily 2000
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