Monday, June 25, 2018

Grading The States: A Report Card on Our Nation's Commitment to Public Schools



This report examines our nation’s commitment to democracy by assessing the privatization programs in the 50 states and the District of Columbia with the goal of not only highlighting the benefits of a public school education, but comparing the accountability, transparency and civil rights protections offered students in the public school setting versus the private school setting. 

States are rated on the extent to which they have instituted policies and practices that lead toward fewer democratic opportunities and more privatization, as well as the guardrails they have (or have not) put into place to protect the rights of students, communities and taxpayers. This is not an assessment of the overall quality of the public education system in the state — rather it is an analysis of the laws that support privatized alternatives to public schools.

This report card, therefore, provides a vital accounting of each state’s democratic commitment to their public school students and their public schools, by holding it accountable for abandoning civil rights protections, transparency, accountability and adequate funding in a quest for “private” alternatives. It is designed to give citizens insight into the extent of privatization and its intended and unintended consequences for our students and our nation.

Significant Findings:

PRIVATIZATION 

• Twenty-eight states plus the District of Columbia have some form of voucher pro-gram—traditional, ESA or tax-credit scholarships. The vast majority have multiple programs—Wisconsin, Ohio and Arizona have five different programs each. 
• All but three states have either a voucher program, charter program or both. 
• Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia allow for-profit companies to manage their charter schools and four states also allow for-profit charter schools.  

OVERALL CIVIL RIGHTS PROTECTIONS 

• Nineteen states fail to include additional state and local civil rights protections for voucher students beyond race, ethnicity and national origin. Only one state protects LGBTQ students in voucher receiving private schools. 
• Among the states with voucher/neo-voucher programs, only one mandates providing services for ELL students, and eighteen states do not mandate services for students with disabilities in the program. 
• Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia fail to specifically protect students in voucher/neo-voucher programs against religious discrimination. 

TRADITIONAL VOUCHER AND NEO-VOUCHER (TUITION TAX-CREDIT AND ESA) PROGRAMS 

• Fifteen states with voucher/neo-voucher pro-grams fail to require background checks for teachers and employees in schools receiving vouchers. 
• Eighteen states with voucher/neo-voucher programs have no mandate for transparen-cy in student performance in one or more of their programs, and the majority do not require students to take state tests. 
• Nine states have at least one program that does not require the private school receiving the voucher to be accredited or even registered. 

 CHARTER SCHOOLS 

• Of the forty-four states with charter laws, twenty-eight of these states and the District of Columbia fail to require the same teacher certification as public schools. 
• Thirty states and the District of Columbia allow enrollment advantage for children of board members, employees, and/or other groups.
• Thirteen states have no conflict of interest requirements between charter board mem-bers and service providers.
• Charter school students with disabilities are disadvantaged in thirty-nine states and the District of Columbia, which do not clearly and completely establish their provision of services.

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