OPINION: School choice plan called a ‘government handout’

The fight over school vouchers might be the leading issue going into this legislative session, but the term “vouchers” will have selective use. 

We’re more likely to hear terms such as “school choice,” “tax credits,” “rebates” or even “savings accounts” come up in the committee rooms and press briefings. Regardless of the name, it’s all part of the effort to steer public money to private or religious schools. 

Rod Gramer, an advocate and former president of Idaho Business for Education, uses another term. “It’s the biggest government handout in history,” he says, and one that is aimed for helping rich folks get money for sending their kids to private schools. 

“There is nothing conservative about vouchers,” he says. 

Politically, there appears to be strong sentiment is some form of vouchers. Gov. Brad Little has endorsed a tax credit that will provide $50 million to those seeking education alternatives. Gramer, a longtime journalist and native Idahoan, blasted the governor for pandering to the right — at the expense of Idaho’s constitutional obligation for public education.  

Tax credits, or other measures, may not raid the public-school budget, but they can chip away at the general fund that underwrites everything else. Gramer says that Arizona, a voucher-friendly state, is cutting programs and facing close to a billion-dollar deficit as a result of its financial boost to the private schools. 

Reviews in Arizona are mixed. Former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, in a recent visit to the Gem State, had high praise for Arizona’s voucher program. Arizona’s current governor, Democrat Katie Hobbs, has called the program “unsustainable.” 

Gramer sides with Hobbs in this dispute. 

“The state general fund has only so much money, and we always have been frugal in Idaho. It’s not like we are throwing money at our public schools,” Gramer says. “So, if you have vouchers, it puts the squeeze on the state general-fund budget — and not just for K-12 education. It puts the squeeze on community colleges, higher education, roads and all the things we do on a limited budget.” 

Legislators are getting plenty of pressure to provide relief for those fleeing public schools. Ron Nate, a former Eastern Idaho legislator and president of the Idaho Freedom Foundation — which has a generous following among legislators — sees public schools in a negative light. 

“For some time, public schools have been indoctrination zones for leftist ideology,” Nate says. “If it’s not sex ed at an inappropriately early age, it’s a course how we should be ashamed of our country’s history. While the teachers are forcing their woke LGBT, anti-white agenda down our children’s throats, their test scores continue to drop.” 

Meanwhile, he says, “spending on education continues to go through the roof.” 

Education professionals may sneer at Nate’s assessment, but the perception is real. And political leaders are paying attention after seeing a few anti-voucher legislators bounced out of office. Gov. Little, who next year could be looking at running for a third term, doesn’t want to be on the wrong side of this issue. 

Gramer agrees that political momentum in Idaho is on the side of tax credits, savings accounts — or whatever the variation is to vouchers. But he’s not convinced that the public stands by the effort. He sees little benefit to rural areas that traditionally have strong identification with the public schools. 

“In November, on the night that Donald Trump was elected president, three states (two red states and one purple) rebuffed efforts to use taxpayer money for private schools,” Gramer says.  

In political campaigns, there’s plenty of money flowing to candidates who support vouchers in some form. But Gramer, who has followed politics for more than 50 years, has seen some unusual dynamics in national campaigns. Advertisements avoid focusing on using taxpayer money to support private schools over public education. 

“Vouchers are never mentioned,” he says. “The ads focus is on candidates who are accused of being soft on border security, or gun control.” 

Of course, as Gramer knows, legislative sessions are all about political momentum and the messy process of finding consensus with conflicting bills. With luck, he says, the volume of school-choice plans will collapse under their weight. 

But the issue certainly is not going away.

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Silver Valley native Chuck Malloy is a longtime Idaho journalist and columnist. He may be reached at ctmalloy@outlook.com.