MICHIGAN ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL BOARDS POLICY STATEMENT

Once again, a small but well-financed group of special interests is trying to divert precious tax dollars away from public education and into private schools. It would do so by seriously weakening the provisions of the Constitution of the State of Michigan which long have maintained a strong separation of church and state by prohibiting the use of vouchers, tax credits, or other ploys, direct or indirect, to funnel public funds into schools which espouse particular religious beliefs, and thereby "establish" those beliefs with public monies.

Supporters of public education, and also many religious leaders, have challenged such efforts, not only on the need to keep the state out of the business of financially supporting particular sets of beliefs by helping to finance the teaching of them with state dollars, but also to keep the state out of excessive entanglement in the affairs of religious institutions which inevitably follows in the wake of government payments to them.

This season's attempt to establish "parochaid" is more seductive and, in some ways, more sinister and cynical than past attempts. It is wrapped in the mantra of being available, in the first instance, to school districts with high dropout rates, and then to those where a local vote could bring them in. In effect, the proposal would take away foundation grant monies from districts that need the most help. The result will be to give money in the form of vouchers to schools that are privately controlled and not governed by democratically elected, and responsive, school board members.

Taxpayers need to be concerned about the cost of this bad idea. Just assuming that the almost 200,000 children presently enrolled in private schools would be eligible for vouchers at the proposed $3000 amount, the result is the need for an additional $600 million in funds for education. This figure doesn't even consider additional students who voucher proponents want to attract. These funds would have to either come out of present levels of funding for public education, or through tax increases.

Public education has always been given a highest priority in Michigan, but the recent lag in funding in proportion to increases in expenses, particularly in special education, and lack of adequate funding for mandated programs, hours of instruction, and renovations in aging buildings require more support for public education, not less. Schemes such as the one being proposed today, would divert existing funds to support private interests and beliefs.

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