A veteran lawmaker wants voters to carve an exception into the Arizona Constitution to allow state aid to private and parochial schools.
Rep. Jack Harper, R-Surprise, said he believes students who have been in foster care or are disabled should be able to attend schools that may suit their needs better than the regular state-funded system. Lawmakers have previously approved such vouchers but they were declared illegal.
But Harper's plan also would require the state to provide $5,500 vouchers to pay tuition at private or parochial schools to students in any school where class size exceeds 35.
He acknowledged that class size is determined, at least in part, by the amount of aid lawmakers approve for public schools. But Harper sidestepped questions of whether such a constitutional change would essentially provide an incentive for supporters of state funds for private schools, including him, to curtail state aid to open the gates to vouchers for everyone.
"All we're doing with this referral to the ballot is making future legislation (about vouchers) constitutional," he said. Harper said it sets no new policies on state aid.
"That's up to a future Legislature, elected by the people, and with input from the people," he said.
Harper conceded, though, he purposely crafted the measure in a way to make it more attractive, both to his legislative colleagues and, ultimately, to the voters who would have to approve the change: It would help former foster children and those with disabilities.
"And I attached one (provision) that is my goal that I hope to piggyback off of the others," Harper said.
Central to the fight are two constitutional provisions.
One bans the use of public money or property for religious worship, exercise or instruction. The other forbids public funds to be used to aid any church or any private or sectarian school.
Those amendments have stood in the way of lawmakers who have argued that parents should have the maximum possible choices of where to best educate their children.
While nothing now precludes parents from choosing a private or parochial education, they cannot rely on state help. Some legislators have argued that is not only unfair, as the parents are paying taxes that support public schools, but that vouchers can save money because they mean fewer children in public schools.
Harper said he sees other benefits.
"I believe it breaks down the barriers to competition," he said, putting private and parochial schools on an equal footing with public schools. Harper said it also "sharpens the focus of the public schools to want to do a good job for every child," knowing that parents could just as easily send their youngsters elsewhere - and the state aid, which is based on the number of students, would decline.
Various attempts to approve vouchers have been blocked by the court.
Most recently, the Arizona Supreme Court struck down a 2006 law which provided $2.5 million in vouchers to parents of former foster children to pay tuition and fees at private or parochial schools. An identical fund was set up for students with disabilities.
Tim Keller of the Institute for Justice argued there was no constitutional violation as the tax dollars were not going to "aid" the schools but the parents, calling any benefit to the schools "purely incidental." He also said courts have upheld the ability of governments to use tax dollars to get non-religious services, even from religious groups.
Those arguments did not fly.
The justices, in their 2009 unanimous opinion, called the programs "a well-intentioned effort" to assist students with special needs.
"But we are bound by our constitution," wrote Justice Michael Ryan. He said there is no way the program can be reconciled with a specific constitutional ban against appropriating public funds in aid to private and parochial schools.
The court also rejected the arguments that the schools are simply being paid to educate children, saying the vouchers do not provide reimbursement for any specific contracted services.
"In fact, they are designed in such a way that the state does not purchase anything," he continued. "Rather, it is the parent or guardian who exercises sole discretion to contract with the qualified school."
The ruling was a major setback for voucher proponents who admitted at the time they created the small program to test the legal waters. They had hoped a ruling in their favor would pave the way for a full-blown voucher program, with every parent entitled to use state tax money to send children to any school they want.
Ryan, in his ruling, essentially provided the roadmap that Harper is following: He said the way to make vouchers legal is to persuade voters to amend the constitution to alter or repeal the ban.
jezzabella posted at 3:35 pm on Thu, Dec 29, 2011.
"""Harper's plan also would require the state to provide $5,500 vouchers to pay tuition at private or parochial schools to students in any school where class size exceeds 35."""
So, cut funding for public schools and voila - class sizes are over 35.
Now all the religious righties can have their children educated in Christian schools on the tax payer dime. And when Muslims try to access the same money they will scream bloody murder and try to discriminate because that is what the righties do best.
geekette posted at 4:00 pm on Thu, Dec 29, 2011.
Do any private or parochial schools offer services for disabled kids? My child went to a parochial school, there were no physically disabled kids there at all because they did not have the facilities. There was no special ed. If any child needed help because of learning disabilities, they were sent to the local district school for tutoring. And just how far will $5500 go? Are there any private or parochial schools with tuition that low? Just who is Harper kidding? This is just another attempt to dismantle the public school system. It's better for us all to have a robust public school system.
soricobob posted at 5:46 am on Fri, Dec 30, 2011.
I agree with geekette, show me a charter school with a full spectrum of special education services and I'll show you a public school. The idea that a charter school is a public school is a sham! Lawmakers know it, educators know it, and the DOE knows it. The only question is , who is going to do something about it?
DataMan posted at 8:50 am on Fri, Dec 30, 2011.
You can tell that Harper is really clueless, when even Rob Robb from AZ Centeral is calling him out for being stupid!
MarkF posted at 9:59 am on Fri, Dec 30, 2011.
Begin typing here...
On 2/14/11 we presented the Unlicensed Assisted Living Facility Law to close the loophole that allows false advertising by senior living facilities. The Department of Health Services is aware of this Elder Financial Exploitation Scam duping 1,000’s of Arizona seniors. Mr. Harper did not pass this needed law. It appears Surprise’s Republican Jack Harper is still confused about his purpose and is still pushing his pet Bills, such as his state gun law, in the upcoming session. Mr. Harpers’ new ideas are:
1. To eliminate short sales for home owners who are underwater and cannot make their payments. Mr. Harper feels that the banks should not be held responsible for their predatory lending that made them rich before the recession.
2. To set limits on business liability lawsuit awards in order to attract new businesses into our state. This would open Arizona to out-of-state carpetbaggers who could fleece the Arizonan consumers with no restraints of repercussions.
3. To repay former Senator Russell Pearce for his impeachment reelection costs. Mr. Harper’s loyalty to former Arizona Senator Pearce is way over-the-top.
4. To establish a new State Militia to guard Arizona’s borders which could cost our state up to $180 million a year. Maybe Mr. Harper wants Arizona to secede from the Union and he can be our new President.
We hope Jack Harpers’ new law ideas die on the vine like most of his ideas. We feel it is time for Mr. Harper to leave the Arizona Legislature and seek therapy.
davidflucier posted at 1:52 pm on Fri, Dec 30, 2011.
"Those amendments have stood in the way of lawmakers who have argued that parents should have the maximum possible choices of where to best educate their children."
Yup! It's those pesky little Constitutional principles that get in the way every time.
I guess some folks haven't quite grasped the concept of the establishment clause in the US Constitution...keeping church and state separate.
Mike McClellan posted at 2:04 pm on Fri, Dec 30, 2011.
First, I wonder if his initiative is even constitutional, in that I believe initiatives have to be single-issue and if I'm reading the article correctly, Harper's plan involves two questions. So even if it gets through the legislature as a legislative initiative, it might not hold up in court.
And the second point's already been mentioned, the $5,500 tuition voucher for any kid where the school has class sizes of 35 and above -- Harper and Co. could make that happen with enough budget cuts to K-12.
Fortunately, Harper's seen even by most of his Republican colleagues as a nutjob who's not particularly bright.
One example: He sent out a blast to his constituents about how Dysart School District was stocking its libraries with books promoting homosexuality and atheism. He even gave them a link to the list of books. One problem: the link was to a book publishing company's entire catalog, not the list of books purchased by Dysart. In fact, none of the books he railed about had been purchased by the district.
What a gooof.
Tookie88 posted at 4:29 pm on Sun, Jan 1, 2012.
As a teacher, I am tired of people who know nothing of education making decisions about education. Even the people who run the ADE and local school boards aren't educators. Why do we have so many people in power of making decisions about our children's future who know nothing about education! Our current ADE head, Huppenthal, sent his kids to private schools and is taking the Florida model of education and making it part of Arizona's. Did I miss something, but last I checked, Florida is not the "model" of education we need to be following...they are often worse off then we are in education polls.