“Accountability” is one of those education buzz words that conservatives love. It serves as the basis for the drive for more federal testing, a centerpiece of Bush’s NCLB policy.
But accountability is one of the gaping holes in the one education policy conservatives demand but usually fail to receive: private school vouchers.
When public funds go to public schools — as they should — there is an inherent system of accountability. These schools are government institutions and are treated as such. Their books are audited, they answer to a publicly-elected school board, their teachers have to be licensed and meet certain qualifications, their curricula is shaped and approved by state education officials, and results from standardized tests are published for the public. There are multiple levels of accountability for families and taxpayers.
Not so with private schools. As independent institutions, frequently tied to religious ministries, these schools are free of government oversight. Who they teach, how they teach, what they teach, and who does the teaching is entirely up to them. There are no mandated standards, their budgets are private, their students don’t have to take standardized tests, and their curricula is completely unregulated. If parents like the school, they pay the tuition. If not, they go elsewhere. The state has no role whatsoever.
As such, when taxpayers subsidize these schools through vouchers, we are financing institutions that are not accountable to the public. These schools will accept public funds with one hand, but cut any attached strings with the other. “We’ll take your money,” the schools tell us, “but not your regulations.”
This is, and has been, a recipe for disaster. When the public treasury is open to private institutions that are unregulated and unaccountable, people will take advantage of the system and taxpayers will lose. So will the children who are supposed to be getting a quality education.
Fortunately, CNN ran a report yesterday highlighting just how badly things can go with these schemes, emphasizing a series of scandals tied to Milwaukee’s voucher system.
One school that received millions of dollars through the nation’s oldest and largest voucher program was founded by a convicted rapist. Another school reportedly entertained kids with Monopoly while cashing $330,000 in tuition checks for hundreds of no-show students.
The recent scandals have shocked politicians, angered parents and left even some voucher supporters demanding reforms.
[…]
The schools are required to report virtually nothing about their methods to the state, or to track their students’ performance. Proponents say that frees the schools from onerous bureaucracy. But some say the lack of oversight makes them a prime target for abuse.
The report explained the obvious shortcomings of awarding millions of dollars to private institutions that are not required to report back to anyone. The principal of one school used tax dollars to buy himself a Mercedes. Another received $1 million in voucher funding but never had to tell anyone he served nearly a decade in prison for a rape conviction. Public school officials have to undergo criminal background checks, but since private schools are unregulated, anything goes.
Fortunately, some people are starting to get the picture.
Todd Ziebarth, a policy analyst with the Education Commission of the States in Washington, said the demand for greater accountability in public schools has led to a similar debate over voucher programs.
“Now people are saying, ‘Geez, if the public schools have to meet this level of accountability, why shouldn’t the private schools also?”‘ he said.
Good question.