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DEL.ICIO.USTo vouch or not to vouch: Clayton County forces the question
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The threatened collapse of the 53,000-student Clayton County school system has shed light on some philosophical differences among the state’s leading Republicans when it comes to public education.
Senate President pro tem Eric Johnson (R-Savannah) is pitching his current school voucher bill as “a lifeline for the parents of these children.”
“S.B. 458 would require that the state funding for each child be offered to the parents as a scholarship that can be used to transfer the child to any public or private school that will accept the student.
“We estimate that the scholarship will be worth about $4,150 in Clayton County. That will cover a significant portion of private school tuition,” Johnson writes in an op-ed piece snared by Jason Pye and Peach Pundit.
But Gov. Sonny Perdue made it clear last week that he wants a sharp line drawn between his package to rescue the school system and any broad call for vouchers.
“I think they’re two entirely different things. I think…any kind of bill like [S.B. 458] requires a robust and healthy educational competitive environment. I don’t really think that a wounded type of environment would be the best way to see that bill,” the governor said.
Perdue said vouchers are fine for niche markets — like special needs students who were the topic of voucher legislation sponsored by Johnson last year.
But it’s no replacement for an entire public school operation. “Our goal is to restore the Clayton County school system to health and to being a school system that serves its students well,” the governor said.
Both men agree on one thing: Nowhere in the Georgia Code or state Constitution is there currently a mechanism that allows for the state to take over a failing local school system.
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