House Rejects Vouchers for Public School Students

By aaroncynic in News on May 6, 2010 8:20PM

The Illinois House rejected a measure yesterday to provide up to 30,000 Chicago Public School students with vouchers so they could transfer to private schools. The legislation, which passed the Senate in March with the support of Senator James Meeks (D-Chicago) and some Republicans, would’ve provided eligible students with about $3,700 each to switch to private schools in fall of 2011. A total of 48 legislators voted for the measure, failing to reach the 60 votes needed to pass the bill.

In an emotional debate, Rep. Suzanne Bassi (R-Palatine) asked lawmakers to “search your souls” to support failing inner city schools. Rep. Kevin Joyce (D-Chicago) said that children lost out because of people who feared for change in the system. Teachers’ unions and legislators opposed to the voucher legislation pointed out the potential inequalities in the bill. Rep. Monique Davis (D-Chicago) said “We are attempting to destroy public education for some children. And when we do that, we deny all of them an opportunity to be the best they can be.”

While we agree that all students deserve a right to the best education possible, the measure could have diverted millions of dollars from already cash-strapped public schools to private schools. Taking more money from a failing school would deprive that school of further resources, forcing the children who still attend into an even worse situation. All children have a right to and deserve a quality education; the voucher program would have only helped a few. Before the state can focus on getting students into private schools, it needs to make fixing up and restoring funding to the public schools the main priority.