[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 159 (Wednesday, November 12, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2332-E2333]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                             SCHOOL CHOICE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LEE H. HAMILTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 12, 1997

  Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, I would like to insert my Washington 
Report for Wednesday, November 12, 1997, into the Congressional Record.

                             School Choice

       Education has always been a defining issue in American 
     politics and a matter of the highest importance. Everyone 
     believes that in America every child should get a good 
     education. Politicians of all stripes have yearned to be 
     known as ``education presidents'' or ``education governors''. 
     The often heated debates swirling at the local school board 
     level also testify to how central an issue education is at 
     all levels of government.
       Now a further debate within this larger education debate is 
     taking place in statehouses and schoolhouses across the 
     country. That debate is over school choice. At a fundamental 
     level, school choice involves giving parents the ability to 
     select which schools their children attend. But despite the 
     relatively simple definition, school choice involves many 
     different and competing options, and the debate is heating 
     up.


                         What is school choice?

       School choice encompasses a broad spectrum of educational 
     initiatives and models, from modest tinkering to expansive 
     reorganizations. The most popular include school vouchers and 
     charter schools.
       School vouchers provide assistance to families, often in 
     the form of coupons, to be used to pay either a portion or 
     the entire cost of private school tuition. Cleveland and 
     Milwaukee have voucher programs supported with taxpayer 
     dollars. These programs are targeted to low-income families. 
     In Indianapolis there is a limited voucher program funded 
     through private funds.
       Charter schools are independent public schools usually 
     started by parents, teachers, and administrators. These 
     schools are freed from some of the bureaucratic rules and 
     regulations that drag down performance, but in return they 
     are responsible for meeting certain standards. Over the past 
     several years there has been an intense debate in the Indiana 
     state legislature over the issue of some charter schools 
     possibly restricting admission.


                          Congressional debate

       Currently in Congress the school choice debate is a popular 
     topic and will certainly continue to be a lightning rod for 
     years to come. Supporters claim that choice injects 
     competition and accountability into the educational system. 
     They ask why the poor should not have the same chance at 
     better schools as the well-to-do. They believe that choice 
     will, through competition, prod the public schools to get 
     better.
       American parents are deeply concerned about the quality of 
     their children's education, and are searching for ways to 
     improve the system. School choice is one such option. Billed 
     as a way to increase parents' control over where their 
     children enroll while also creating incentives for reform in 
     our public schools, the numerous school choice proposals 
     promise to shake up our educational system. In this day and 
     age, when we often hear calls to increase the efficiency and 
     responsiveness of government, the free enterprise themes that 
     characterize school choice proposals resonate with many 
     Americans.
       Opponents, on the other hand, argue that choice, at its 
     least, unduly weakens public schools and, at most, is 
     unconstitutional. They argue fairness: since States will 
     never have the money to help all the poor children who want 
     it, most poor children will never be able to take advantage 
     of the choice, and they will be left behind in a public 
     system more starved for money then ever before. For them, 
     public funds should be spent to improve public schools, not 
     spent to help students leave them.
       Critics also argue that most Americans do not want tax 
     dollars subsidizing private schools, and they believe that 
     vouchers create instant church-state problems. They say that 
     using public funds for religious-affiliated schooling is a 
     violation of the First Amendment's separation of church and 
     state which is at the center of the American political 
     heritage.
       Critics also point to the practical difficulties in 
     implementing school choice. In urban areas, where there are 
     not only more schools to choose from but also greater 
     accessibility to public transportation, it is easier to 
     implement school choice reform. Could this work in rural 
     southern Indiana where schools are often separated by at 
     least an hour's drive? What about parents unable or unwilling 
     to choose, or troubled students who are less desired by the 
     schools? How do you find enough resources to make choice 
     really meaningful, so even the poorest or worst behaving or 
     lowest achieving student would have a chance to enroll in a 
     good school?


                               Assessment

       When it comes to the education of American children, I 
     believe we should be willing to experiment and creatively 
     address the challenges of making sure they receive the world-
     class education they deserve. The idea of school choice is 
     certainly an attractive one, at least in general. By allowing 
     parents to send their children to any school in any 
     neighborhood, many schools will shape up and bright students 
     can shop around to escape inferior schools.
       But I also believe that choice is not a cure-all for 
     American schools. It must not stand as a substitute for a 
     strong commitment to a sound education for all of our 
     children. If school choice is going to be an effective 
     alternative, we must address the fundamental

[[Page E2333]]

     issues which surround it, and local leadership must take the 
     lead in designing the programs. In general, I think school 
     choice works best when it is arrived at gradually, locally, 
     and voluntarily--not by top-down mandates.
       The verdict is still out on whether school choice programs 
     already in place have been ultimately successful. For this 
     reason, school choice needs to be a gradual experiment, and 
     local leaders need to look long and hard at a variety of 
     innovative strategies aimed at improving public schools.
       What we do not want in the end is a school choice system 
     that leads to further segregation by race or income, or a 
     choice system that creates a few favored schools for the 
     elite. To bridge the gap between the ideal of school choice 
     and the reality of fundamental educational reform, we need to 
     carry on with this timely experiment.

     

                          ____________________