Paige calls vouchers 'educational emancipation'
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Emboldened by the creation of private-school vouchers in the District of Columbia, the nation's top education official said Wednesday the campaign will roll on to offer choice to those who doubt the ability of public schools.
Education Secretary Rod Paige said the D.C. voucher program, to be launched this fall, will offer "emancipation" to hundreds of poor and minority students -- allowing them to "throw off the chains of a school system that has not served them well."
The $13 million congressional plan creates vouchers for at least 1,700 poor students in the district, where 65,000 children attend classes in traditional public schools. The district also gets $1 million for administrative costs as part of this first federally financed voucher plan. Students must gain admission to a private school and cover tuition or other costs exceeding their vouchers.
"This plan must be given every chance to work," Paige said in prepared comments to be delivered at the conservative Heritage Foundation. "The future of our children is at stake, and it would be unconscionable to work against their best interests, to desire failure, to actively labor for obstruction and sabotage.
"I respectfully warn those in Congress and the District who ponder such continued political warfare that their actions will not stop us," Paige said.
Paige's comments reflect the latest push by the Bush administration to frame vouchers as a way to empower parents and spur improvements in a public educational "monopoly." Bush has proposed $50 million for voucher experiments in other communities in the next budget year.
Critics say vouchers take money from the place it is needed the most -- struggling public schools -- and they find it galling that the nation's education chief helps lead the charge.
The District of Columbia plan drew mixed response from local officials, and the capital city has no voting member in Congress. The House approved the voucher plan by a single vote in September. The Senate never took a straight vote on the plan, as Democrats put off that action, but the Senate approved the vouchers last week as part of a massive spending bill.
Paige said the experiment "isn't about dismantling the public school system. And this isn't a plan to federalize the schools." Rather, he said, it is a means to offer choice to those who couldn't afford it otherwise.
"When students are required by law to attend a particular school, the school doesn't have to do anything to secure quality or produce scholarship," Paige said. "It just has to open the door and collect the local and state stipend for each student."
Paige and the district's mayor, Anthony Williams, are assigned to work out many details of the voucher program, including how an independent group will be chosen to oversee it. Paige said he expects the joint agreement to be signed within a few days.
Copyright 2004 The
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
