Letter to House Budget Committee: March 25, 2009

The Honorable John M. Spratt
Chairman
House Committee on Budget
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Paul Ryan
Ranking Member
House Committee on Budget
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20510


Re: Oppose Jordan’s amendment to extend DC private school vouchers in FY 2010 budget resolution

Dear Chairman Spratt and Ranking Member Ryan:

The National School Boards Association (NSBA), representing 95,000 local school board members across the nation through our state school boards associations, urges you to defeat the Jordan amendment to the FY 2010 budget resolution which would extend the funding of the expired Washington, D.C. private school voucher program during the markup scheduled for today, March 25, 2009.

The $14.8 million a year program provides vouchers worth up to $7,500 each for approximately 1,900 students. Created as a five-year pilot, it was scheduled to expire in 2008. The FY 2009 omnibus bill included one additional year of funding for the 2009-2010 school year for the program with the stipulation that no funding will be available without a full reauthorization by Congress and approval from the District of Columbia after that.

The Jordan amendment would provide a substantial funding increase for the program--$140 million for FY 2010, despite the fact that the program has not been proven effective by numerous federal evaluations. The congressionally mandated evaluations released in 2008 and 2007 found no statistically significant differences in academic achievement between voucher students and their peers in Washington, D.C. public schools.

Not only does the experimental program lack academic evidence to support its continuation, a U.S. Government Accountability Office report documented several accountability shortcomings – including federal taxpayer dollars funding tuition at private schools that do not even charge tuition, schools that lacked city occupancy permits, and schools employing teachers without bachelor’s degrees . It also noted that children with physical or learning disabilities are underrepresented compared to the public schools.

Although they receive taxpayer dollars, private schools in the program do not face the same public accountability standards, including those in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, that all public schools face. The private schools also do not have to accept all students, as they are permitted to maintain their admissions standards.

NSBA believes the objective evidence does not support the reauthorization or continued funding of the only federally funded school voucher program. We again urge you to oppose the Jordan amendment to continue funding the Washington, D.C. voucher program beyond the 2009-2010 school year in the FY 2010 budget resolution during the committee markup.

Thank you for considering our views, and please contact Katherine Shek, legislative analyst, at 703-535-1627 or by email at kshek@nsba.org, if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Michael A. Resnick
Associate Executive Director

Cc:     Members, House Committee on Budget