PTA Reacts to President’s State of the Union
Note: The following statement is an excerpt from an open letter to Congress from PTA National President Jan Harp Domene.
January 29, 2008 - The National PTA, comprising millions of parents, teachers, students, and other child advocates, is firmly opposed to President Bush’s proposal for “Pell Grants for Kids”, a national voucher program that deprives public schools of critically needed taxpayer funds by diverting those funds to private schools with no taxpayer or educational accountability. Public funding for education needs to support and improve our nation’s public schools.
Vouchers benefit few students while taking scarce resources away from those who need it the most. Vouchers take money away from public schools, where 90 percent of all school-age children are enrolled, and give it to private schools. Public schools must meet federal state and local standards in a broad variety of areas including teacher qualifications, core curriculum and student achievement, and report their status to elected school boards and the taxpaying public. Private schools have no public accountability for the expenditure of public funds.
Americans have consistently rejected vouchers, both in surveys and in referendums. What’s more, Congress has consistently rejected voucher proposals just like the President’s most recent proposal.
If we are serious about keeping America competitive, we must be equally serious about our support of education. If we want student achievement to continue to rise, high-school graduation and college enrollment to increase, and the student drop-out rate to decrease, there is no better investment than public education. Children succeed when families, schools and communities work together. Together, we can make every child’s potential a reality.
