Marketplace Excludes People Whose Pockets Are Empty

Public education found its purpose questioned in the past session of the 54th Idaho Legislature.

As a public school teacher, I listened carefully as lawmakers debated House Bill 342. This measure would have allowed a $500 tax credit, up to $2,500 per family, to any parent whose children are home-schooled or attend private or parochial schools.

The bill failed and that was of huge relief to me, yet I know the topic will resurface next year.

HB 342 failed for many reasons. One of the most definitive reasons was because Idaho cannot absorb the reduction in revenue a bill like this would create. Thousands of children are currently educated outside the public setting. To credit them alone would have a large fiscal impact that our limited budget cannot afford.

HB 342 should have failed primarily because of its negative impact on our nation’s democratic heritage. Democracy places upon its citizens the responsibility for making decisions that benefit all of us. Our highways, parks, police and fire protection are funded by our taxes.

As a citizen, I am willing to contribute into a common pot so I can enjoy those things I cannot finance as an individual. It would be unfair of me to ask that my taxes to our local library be returned because I never checked out a book. I have many options for getting books I need, but that fact doesn’t absolve me of financial responsibility to the library, as a member of my community.

Legislators discussed placing education in the marketplace. It is a myth that market competition will create quality education for all.

Consumers receive quality goods and services when they can pay for them. In disadvantaged communities, the marketplace seldom provides the quality services people need - not in health care, not in housing, not in transportation or any other basic service.

If we turn education over to the marketplace, it will become a consumer good and only those with money will be able to tap into the best education available. Private college tuition is a good example of education in the marketplace. Tuitions have soared.

“Universities may lack the profit imperative that drives corporations,” said the March 17 issue of Time Magazine, “but they are just as fiercely competitive, always striving to get the best students, the best scholars, the best grants in order to attain the most prestige.”

Individual students and their needs are not the focus, but the dollars and prestige from them are. If your child is not in the top 5 percent, will you find a school willing to accept him or her?

Only a publicly funded school with the community’s well-being at stake will provide each child the attention and help he or she deserves.

There was discussion of personal choice. Parents do deserve a choice in their children’s educational future, but the choice they make must be independent of funding the public system. People who opt out of public school education shouldn’t be allowed to financially dismantle it for the majority.

Children between 6 and 16 in Idaho are guaranteed an education by the state. No state guidelines or requirements guide the study of those who choose other options. In fact, HB 342 would have specifically exempted them from any rule, guideline, order, requirement or regulation that applies to a public school student.

Communities are currently demanding accountability from teachers and students. If the state is to consider financial support for a second educational system, I hope it will demand of that second system the same requirements it demands of the first.

It was suggested that this bill would reduce my class size. That, to me, is the most singular item concerning how effective my classroom is. Student enrollment is related to funding. When children leave public school, state funding goes with them. The only real way to reduce class size is to increase state funding per student.

Probably the most meaningful reason why HB 342 should never be heard from again is for students like De’Andrey Mosby. An article in April 7 Spokesman-Review explained how Mosby, a child of drug-abusing parents, found himself with just one academic credit when he entered Rogers High School in Spokane. He is now a senior and the recipient of the Chase Youth Commission’s 1997 Personal Achievement Award for teens.

Without public school, Mosby wouldn’t be preparing to graduate. Had his parents been able to file for a credit, it would not have been enough to pay for a private education. His neighborhood school, funded by his community, took the responsibility that his parents did not. He had access to books, transportation and lunch. Because of his dedication and the availability of public schools, Mosby is well on his way to becoming a responsible adult citizen.

Tax dollars that made that possible were tax dollars well spent.

My public school class is culturally, socially and economically diverse. We move, think and act as a team as we learn, and I am proud of each child and each one’s contribution to the whole. The individual is respected and encouraged to think for himself or herself and be a self-manager.

Even in first grade, we are learning mutual respect and understanding that children will need as they move into the workplace in our complex, pluralistic society.

HB 342 was faulty in its design, purpose and fiscal impact. If passed, it would’ve negated the positive impact of public schools and their effect on caring communities.

Funneling public dollars into private enterprise is bad public policy and would clearly place our democratic future at risk.

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The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Diane M. Riley Contributing writer