Legislators discuss school vouchers

Georgia Senate Bill 10, which would allow parents to use state funds to place special education children in a private school if they are not satisfied with their children’s current school, appears well on its way to becoming state law.

After three subcommittee meetings and eight hours of testimony last Wednesday, SB10, which passed the Senate by a 31-23 vote on Jan. 31, was given a “do-pass” recommendation on a 9-3 vote to move to the full House Education Committee.

But the bill allowing school vouchers will not pass without some noise from concerned education groups, such as was seen at a legislative breakfast sponsored by the Whitfield Education Association (WEA) on Saturday morning at The Little Dipper restaurant in Dalton.

“We would say SB10 is just a foot in the door; and once in, there is no closing it,” said Fred Gould, local director for the Georgia Association of Educators, a teacher’s union. “We have no problems with the private sector, but that’s a choice those people have made, to go in that direction. They then have no right to say, ‘We want public dollars to follow us.’ As a state, that is not our charge.”

Rep. Tom Dickson, R-Cohutta, the former Whitfield County Schools superintendent who sits on the House Education Committee, attended Saturday’s breakfast with Rep. Roger Williams, R-Dalton, and Sen. Don Thomas, R-Dalton.

Dickson has said, while he might not have favored SB10 as a superintendent, he now believes parents have a right to make choices in education.

Thomas has already voted in favor of SB10 in the Senate.

“I’m generally on the record as being against vouchers, but this bill was sponsored by Eric Johnson, Senate President Pro Tem, and it’s hard to go against the Senate Pro Tem when he comes and asks you to support his legislation,” Thomas said. “Parents should have the opportunity to send their children to another school if the special education student can be better served elsewhere. But I think this bill will have very little impact, if any, in our Northwest Georgia area.”

However, WEA member Ralph Noble of Eastbrook Elementary School said the No Child Left Behind law, which requires teachers such as special education teachers, to be “highly qualified” in their subject areas is leading good teachers to quit the profession.

“We believe this is bad public policy and a lack of oversight. This is a narrow vision on the part of our legislators,” Noble said. “We already don’t have enough special education teachers; they’re overloaded with work, and we’re using many long-term substitutes. Pay raises barely keep up with inflation; there are no incentives, and now you want to give families thousands of dollars to send students to school in Atlanta.”

Dickson said he’d already voted on the bill in the education committee.

“I know it’s ridiculous the way we’re treating our special education teachers, and we’re trying to get some language changed in the NCLB law,” Dickson said. “But I voted for SB-10 in committee, and that indicates I think it’s an important enough issue to more forward for a full vote in the House.”

SB10, officially titled “The Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Act,” would use state money that would have originally been used for teacher salaries. Johnson, the Senate Pro Tem, has said he modeled the bill after the McKay Scholarships program in Florida.

Dickson told The Daily Citizen last week that only 5 percent of all Florida special education students opted to use the vouchers. Johnson has said the average scholarship costs $7,000 in Florida and could run $9,000 in Georgia.

Therefore, if 5 percent of Georgia’s 186,000 special education students opt for the vouchers, Georgia public schools could be out almost $84 million.

Williams said legislators will discuss SB10 after reconvening in two weeks.

“We’ve recessed two weeks in order to figure out a solution to Peach Care (health care plan for Georgia children),” said Williams, who sits on the House Ways and Means Committee. “We need $172 million to fund it. We’re pledged we’re not going to let it go, but if the U.S. Congress doesn’t come through with federal funding, we’ll have to find it elsewhere.”

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