Fighting Off Charter Schools Is Not Enough

Highland Park residents pay property taxes that fund an excellent public school system in our town. We also pay for children attending two local charter schools, with the threat of a third. We have no say in these decisions and we know that the impact is loss of programs for our public schools.

As if that is not bad enough, there is now the threat that during the lame duck legislative session, the Opportunity Scholarship Act (OSA) will become a pilot program in our state in order to introduce a system of vouchers statewide.

The current bill will not immediately apply to Highland Park. But the goal of advocates is to offer vouchers to any parent wishing to opt out of public schools in order to go to a private or parochial school.

The current bill will take up to $15,000 out of a school district when a child receives a voucher. That money will go to cover the cost of the student leaving, as well as children already attending private and parochial schools. These private schools can accept only the students they want, and reject those they do not want.

What will be left in Highland Park Public Schools? Probably those children who have the greatest need for a public education and the most to lose by the reduction in adequate funding for programs that can transform their lives – whether these be free- and reduced-cost lunch students, English learners, or children with special needs.

As if charters do not already segregate schools enough, vouchers threaten to rip apart the very fundamental democratic institution of public education intended to give every child a chance to make it.

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