COMMENTARY

“The challenge is to support school choice and encourage innovation through competition in ways that will lead to a better education for all of America’s children.”

MARK SCHUMANN

If you want to understand the average politician’s loyalties, simply follow the money.

Take, for example, newly elected Indian River County School Board member Shawn Frost, who this past week helped establish a new organization to rival the Florida School Board Association.

By supporting the new association, or lobbying organization, or electioneering communications organization, or whatever else the group may become, Frost is almost surely delivering on his debt to state and national pro-voucher advocates. At least two such groups invested tens of thousands of dollars to support Frost’s successful 2014 challenge to incumbent Karen Disney-Brombach.

The outside groups that supported Frost – the Florida Federation for Children and the American Federation for Children — arguably made his election possible. The FFC and AFC are at odds with the FSBA over expansion of Florida’s school voucher program. Disney-Brombach was at the time serving as president of the FSBA.

Good or bad, Florida’s tax-credit voucher program is designed to get around the prohibition against spending public money to support parochial/religious schools.

Established in 2001, the program provides dollar-for-dollar tax credits for corporations that make donations to nonprofit organizations providing scholarships for children from low-income, and soon to be middle-income families, to attend private schools. Currently, the state’s voucher program funds scholarship for some 60,000 children.

Proponents of school vouchers contend competition improves all schools. They also point to studies showing students in private and charter schools score better on standardized tests, and just as importantly, have higher graduation rates.

Still, some supporters of school vouchers for private schools, along with some charter school advocates, point out that with 90 percent of America’s school children enrolled in public schools it would amount to national economic suicide to give up on public schools. The challenge is to support school choice and encourage innovation through competition in ways that will lead to a better education for all of America’s children.

Critics of school voucher programs argue they draw from public schools financial resources and student talent. Charter and private schools tend to recruit better performing students, or at least students with fewer socio-economic challenges. Certainly private schools and charter schools have, on average, fewer students for whom English is a second language. They also tend to have fewer students with learning disabilities and special needs.

Despite the advantages enjoyed by private schools and charter schools, the evidence is far from conclusive that they outperform their public school counterparts.

According to a recent report by The Economist, school evaluations commissioned by Wisconsin’s education department over 25 years reveal text scores for children in charter schools and private schools are no better than for those in public schools.

The Economics also reported that a federal study of Washington D.C.’s voucher program found no statistical difference in reading and math scores between children who were given vouchers and those who were not.

Considering the immense financial support Frost received directly and indirectly from proponents of expanding Florida’s voucher program, he may feel beholden to these special interest groups. But Frost’s oath of office does not allow him to advocate only for some children.

It may be nearly four years until Frost will again face voters, but if he fails in his duties, there is always the possibility of a recall. Parents and voters should remember that it is their right and responsibility to hold school board members accountable for meeting the education needs of ALL the children of Indian River County.