Privatization is NOT in the Interest of Public Education

The school voucher system proposed by our country’s new Education Secretary Betsy DeVos does not mean you can choose any school you want your kid to attend. It means the public education program will be dismantled through regulatory code and eliminate the government’s role to ensure a thorough and efficient education. As challenging as that wording has been to execute, in the face of recalcitrant social problems, “alternative facts” media, and other influences; it is a vitally important distinction to be made regarding the pending changes in the Federal Code of Regulations that govern education service delivery nationwide.

The annotated procedures at the national level determine the state and county codes regulating education. Title I, Part A (Title I) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended (ESEA), provides financial assistance to local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools with high numbers or high percentages of children from low-income families – to help ensure that all children meet challenging state academic standards. Title I funds may be used for a variety of services and activities, primarily to supplement instruction in reading and mathematics; as such, pending changes need to be shared with the local and regional community.

Pending legislation will eliminate the Elementary and Education Act of 1965, which is the nation's educational law providing equal opportunity in education and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), signed into law in 2015. As proposed, House Bill 610 changes are gargantuan. It will start the school voucher system for children ages 5 to 17; and effectively begins the de-funding process of public schools. ESSA is a comprehensive program that covers curricula for struggling learners, advanced and gifted kids in AP classes, ESL classes, classes for minorities such as Native Americans, Rural Education, Education for the Homeless, School Safety (Gun-Free schools), Monitoring and Compliance, and Federal Accountability Programs. Some things ESSA does for Children with Disabilities are:

• Ensures access to the general education curriculum.

• Ensures access to accommodations on assessments.

• Ensures concepts of Universal Design for Learning.

• Includes provisions that require local education agencies to provide evidence-based interventions in schools with consistently under-performing subgroups.

• Requires states in Title I plans to address how they will improve conditions for learning including: reducing incidents of bullying and harassment in schools; overuse of discipline practices; and reduces the use of aversive behavioral interventions (such as restraints and seclusion)

Named the “Choice in Education Act of 2017,” the current bill limits the authority of the Department of Education to only authorize and award block grants to qualified states. The bill establishes an education voucher program, through which each state shall distribute block grant funds among local educational agencies (LEAs) based on the number of eligible children within each LEA's geographical area. From these amounts, each LEA shall: (1) distribute a portion of funds to parents who elect to enroll their child in a private school or to home-school their child, and (2) do so in a manner that ensures that such payments will be used for appropriate educational expenses. To be eligible to receive a block grant, a state must: (1) comply with education voucher program requirements, and (2) make it lawful for parents of an eligible child to elect to enroll their child in any public or private elementary or secondary school in the state or to home-school their child.

The Bill also abolishes the Nutritional Act of 2012 (No Hungry Kids Act) which provides nutritional standards in school breakfast and lunch. The bill has no wording whatsoever protecting Special Needs kids, no mention of IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), and FAPE (Free Appropriate Public Education). The bill repeals a specified rule that established certain nutrition standards for the national school lunch and breakfast programs. This rule requires schools to increase the availability of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat or fat free milk in school meals; reduce the levels of sodium, saturated fat, and trans-fat in school meals; and meet children's nutritional needs within their caloric requirements.

The need to act forcefully, as the legislative branch of our government reviews the pending changes, will be instrumental in assuring these deleterious actions, in the name of privatization, deregulation and greed – will be instrumental in stopping this travesty. In layman’s terms, if your child has an Individual Education Plan for students with special needs, kiss it goodbye. The changes will disproportionately impact those with special needs and the poor. If you work in special-education as a special education teacher, physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech pathologist, paraprofessional, teacher's aide, or English as a Second Language teacher, your livelihood is in jeopardy. Changes will also disproportionately limit a holistic range of subjects and materials that reflect the expanding diversity of the nation – purposefully. We can deduce the rich and corporations, are simply raiding the federal education allocation for profit. It is important that the public be educated so they in turn, can inform and rally others to stop the attack on education, literacy and achievement.