House Bill 93 Does Not Measure Up

Guest editorial from Don Coberly, Wil Overgaard, Geoffrey Thomas, Jim Jones, and Rory Jones

Get out the veto stamp, Governor Little. House Bill 93 does not measure up to your standards.

In his State of the State address, the Governor indicated that he would allocate $50 million in his budget proposal for “education freedom”.

First off, let’s get real – “education freedom” means vouchers. Whether it’s called a tax credit, educational savings account, scholarship, or other variations - if it diverts money from the general fund and can be used for tuition and/or fees at private and religious schools or in home schooling, it’s a voucher.

These tax dollars are allocated to a small fraction of select Idaho families, who are given more in a tax credit than they have contributed in income taxes or their property taxes.

So that was disappointing, because heretofore the Governor has resisted the considerable forces pressuring him for vouchers.

BUT Little also said:

“Just like we do with every taxpayer dollar that is spent in government, we will ensure there is oversight in school choice. Why? Because accountability in government is an Idaho value, and it is what taxpayers demand and deserve.

Just as we expect the following from our public schools, any school choice measure I would consider must be done the Idaho way, which means it is fair, responsible, transparent, and accountable. It must prioritize the families that need it most and it must not take funds away from public schools.”

It makes sense, then, to judge any voucher bills brought to the Idaho legislature against the Governor’s school choice “guardrails”. If a voucher bill does not match up with his criteria, he should veto that bill if it arrives on his desk.

House Bill 93, the warmed-over version of previous voucher legislation brought by Rep. Wendy Horman and Sen. Lori Den Hartog, satisfies very few of the Governor’s guardrails:

Is it fair? NO. From the bill: “A nonpublic school shall not be required to alter its creed, practices, admissions policy, or curriculum in order to accept students whose payment of tuition or fees stems from a refundable tax credit under this section.”

So a private school would not be required to adopt admissions policies that ensure fair treatment of applicants? Superintendent Allen Howlett of Cole Valley Schools (private, religious schools) told Idaho Ed News that “the school…doesn’t admit students from families without at least one “Bible-believing Christian” parent. “

Is it responsible?

Again, NO, since the authors will not guarantee that the cost of the proposed law won’t grow over time. In fact, passage of HB 93 will likely mean exploding costs over time, as has occurred in Arizona, Indiana, and other states.

There can be little dispute that once a tax credit redistribution is in place, there will be lots of pressure to include the remainder of families with children in private schools. To not include them will be criticized as discriminatory.

Does it require transparency?

NO. Budgeting and expenditure practices for schools that accept voucher students are not mentioned in the proposed law. Public schools are required to put their budgets on their websites for all to see.

AND, believe it or not, private schools would not be required to do background checks for employees.

Is there accountability associated with the proposed law?

Yes, in part.

• Parents receiving vouchers would be required to fill out a survey with regard to their experience.

• The State Tax Commission would have responsibility for tracking funds and ensuring compliance.

But NO for the most part.

• As noted above, voucher schools could retain their creed, practices, admission policy, and curriculum. Cole Valley Superintendent Howlett noted that they do not follow state curriculum that is “in contradiction to our biblical values.” Private schools could pick and choose from approved state curricula, then.

• No testing requirements are mentioned in HB93, though this would seem like the ideal opportunity to provide academic accountability for all schools using the same assessment. BUT, as Howlett indicated, Cole Valley would be open to testing “as long as schools could choose the test”. Sounds more like avoidance of accountability.

• School demographics, such as poverty levels, number and percentage of Limited English and Special education students, which are crucial for making fair academic comparisons? Nowhere to be found in HB93.

HB93 does not measure up, Governor Little. Get out the stamp!

This guest editorial was written by:

Don Coberly, Wil Overgaard, and Geoffrey Thomas - Retired School Superintendents

Jim Jones - Former Idaho Attorney General

Rory Jones - Retired School Board Member and Chairman