The Kansas Legislature is considering a new school finance bill thats deeply problematic for several reasons, including this: It would establish a private school tuition program for students victimized by bullying.
Bullying in schools is a serious issue. It can lead to depression, poor performance, even violence. Bullying needs the attention of teachers, administrators and parents attention aimed at victims and the anti-social behavior of bullies.
The school spending bill, now being heard in the Kansas House, sidesteps these approaches. Instead, it establishes a taxpayer-supported scholarship program that would pay most of the tuition costs for bullying victims who want to attend private schools.
There are several flaws in this approach.
It assumes that bullying doesnt exist in private schools. There is absolutely no evidence this is true. A bullying problem in public school could continue to be a problem in a private classroom.
Where will we transfer students who continue to be bullied in the private schools they are transferred to? asked an article in Psychology Today. The answer isnt clear.
A private tuition program would give public school administrators less incentive to address bullying problems. Principals and counselors might simply tell a bullied child and his or her parents to take their problems somewhere else.
Some are worried parents will falsely allege their children have been bullied. While the bill includes some investigative duties for school officials, there is a possibility of fraud.
The bill establishes only limited public oversight of private schools. Nothing in this act, the bill says, shall be deemed to limit the independence or autonomy of a qualified private school.
The lack of public supervision is a serious concern when public dollars are involved.
And its especially concerning given the recent decision of the Catholic bishop in Kansas City, Kansas, to bar a child with same-sex parents from attending a parochial school. Public dollars cannot be used to support any institution that openly, clearly and cruelly discriminates against children.
The real purpose of the school bill is evident. It isnt designed just to protect victims of bullying; instead, its intended to introduce the idea of public vouchers for private- and parochial-school tuition costs.
Vouchers are a bad idea. They divert money from public schools, making it harder to educate children, and they can unconstitutionally mix religious and secular teaching.
Private and parochial schools have value and are an important part of the mix of education options available to families. Parents who want to send their children to private schools are free to do so.
But taxpayers should not be required to subsidize them.
