School "choice," politics, and 2010 elections

With another election cycle on the horizon, the issue of private school choice will again be on the front-burner. It will certainly be debated in the race for state Superintendent of Education. And with private school choice on the state’s Republican Party platform, it is likely to be a significant issue in the race for Governor as well as various contests for the state legislature.

Supporters of public education better gear up.

True, the push to publicly fund private education through vouchers or tax credits has so far gotten nowhere in the state legislature. This is despite support from once-popular Gov. Mark Sanford as well as untold sums of money spent on election year attack ads, one-sided “studies,” and ongoing propaganda on the part of advocacy groups and bloggers.

We believe they have failed to gain traction because they have miscalculated how much support there is in South Carolina for public education. Our schools aren’t perfect – and I’ve never once heard a school official say that all achievement goals have been met. But people care about their local schools. They are a source of community spirit and pride. And while critics deride superintendents and school board trustees as greedy and out-of-touch, most school officials have strong relationships with everyday folks in local communities. School choice proponents have whiffed so far because there’s a disconnect between their rhetoric and the attitudes and perceptions of real South Carolinians.

Still, as one superintendent told me recently, it’s a matter of “chipping away” at the bedrock of support. And it’s a legitimate concern.

Those familiar with the politics of school choice don’t need us to give the entire background. You know who the players are: South Carolinians for Responsible Government (SCRG), with its misleading attacks on public education and candidates who support our schools; the South Carolina Policy Council and its questionable research and reports; Howard Rich, the New York millionaire who has poured who-knows-how-much money into front groups and candidates in South Carolina; various bloggers and editorial writers.

These groups are remarkably well networked (perhaps Howard Rich’s money being the through-line), and their message is consistent. Language and imagery are, of course, essential components of effective propaganda, and these people surely deserve some credit. “Freedom” ... “choice” ... “opportunity” ... “reform.” These are words you’ll hear over and over in the push for spending public money on K-12 private school tuition. They promote the seductive notion of “money following the child.” Meanwhile, they steadily pound the public school system with the derisive labels: Education leaders are “educrats” who defend the “status quo,” and every shred of data is interpreted and presented in the most negative light possible.

Again, these efforts have yielded little in the way of legislative results. Still, “chipping away”: A few Statehouse victories here and there, a slight shift in public opinion, a victory in the next race for Superintendent of Education (!), and support for public education may be seriously undermined.

Some educators we’ve talked to believe the response to the ongoing barrage of attacks has been spotty and inconsistent.

In the political arena, the Democratic Party has been steadfast in its opposition to vouchers and tax credits (state superintendent candidate Frank Holleman has taken a particularly forceful stance, by the way). Unwavering support for the public school system can be a winning cause for Democrats. At the same time, however, given that the GOP has the upper hand in Columbia, our public schools need Republicans firmly on their side. The fight within the Republican Party has been fairly nasty, with groups like SCRG using school choice as something of a litmus test. Pro-public education Republicans need to mount an effective response.

Some school officials, meanwhile, have talked about keeping public money in the public schools. This may resonate with some, but others may glaze over – or even accept the argument that choice will actually save money for public education. Other school choice skeptics note that government money could end up going to private religious schools. This notion may only make private school choice more desirable to many in South Carolina.

Here are our suggestions:

1. Emphasize the practical. As noted above, some voters may fall for the idea of “the money following the child.” They may buy the idea – as I once heard Gov. Mark Sanford describe it – that money shouldn’t be focused on “institutions,” but on results. All this sounds great until you begin looking at practical barriers to making private school choice actually work. Here are some straightforward questions we believe rational people will take seriously:

** How will we provide transportation for students who currently wouldn’t get to school if they couldn’t ride a bus? I once worked at a junior high school where about 80 percent of the students rode the bus. The idea that a sizable percentage of those kids would be able to get to a private school on their own is laughable. And in rural South Carolina, it’s even sillier to compare the transportation infrastructure to that of New York or the city Sanford and other have talked so much about, Milwaukee.

** How much capacity is there in private schools? And, will these schools accept struggling students? We live in Spartanburg County, where, to our knowledge, there is not a single private school that has anything close to an “open” admissions policy.

** The much-hyped “scholarship granting organizations”: How will they operate? Who will oversee them? How many poor students will they likely be able to serve? Will their funds be open to all-comers or limited to a particular group (like students who belong to a certain church or have certain family or neighborhood identification)?

** Don’t just say private school choice will take money out of the public schools. Explain it. Make it clear. After all, school choice proponents claim their plans will SAVE taxpayer money. Apply the old adage: “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

It takes some explaining, but people should be able to understand that when a student leaves a public school with $3,500 (or whatever amount) of public money, the school system cannot automatically cut that much in expenses. The school can’t lay off a teacher or cancel a bus route or cut the lights off in a classroom with the loss of one student – or, in most cases, even quite a few students.

Continuing on the financial front: The choice proposal that came about last year would have eventually given money to families with children already in private school. How can anyone think this will save the public system money? We could look at a county with a large number of students in private school and add it up. Simple arithmetic. Show people exactly how much such a plan will cost, county by county, district by district. Emphasize the LOCAL impact. That will be a lot more convincing that stating vaguely that private school choice will cost the public system money statewide.


2. Bring supporters from the business community onboard – while making your case to businesspeople on the fence – and the let them speak on behalf of public education, when possible. A coalition led by business and education leaders called “Choose Children First” took aim at the school choice issue several years ago. It seemed to be fairly effective in responding to the likes of SCRG and lobbying lawmakers. To our knowledge, though, that organization no longer exists.


3. On the district level, put some energy and resources toward media relations, enhanced communications, and marketing. This can be tricky, for obvious reasons: School districts exists to educate children, not crank out press releases, and overly expensive PR campaigns can bring negative publicity.

But engage your local media. Help them do their jobs. Budgets, test scores, state and national education politics – it can all be pretty complicated stuff. Spend some time (or appoint someone on staff who can spend time) chatting with education reporters and editors. Offer to go to lunch and talk off the record about education issues. Go the extra mile to explain the nuances of test score data. It should make for more informed – and positive – coverage in the long run.

Meanwhile, beef up your online presence and other communications outreach. We’ll be promoting a variety of ideas in the months to come. The bottom line, though, is that effective communication deserves attention – and doesn’t have to take away from the core mission of public education. Indeed, reaching out to parents, helping the public understand complex issues, and garnering support from businesses, churches, and other organizations can help students in many direct and indirect ways.


4. Stress transparency. Not all information can be made public, of course, but operating with as much transparency as possible builds community trust. Secrecy, or the perception of it, only bolsters attacks on public education. It’s also a sure way to make enemies in the media.



5. Be responsive. While not every parent concern can be satisfied (and not all are reasonable), nothing turns parents off more than being made to feel that they aren’t being heard. We want to be clear: We believe the vast majority of schools make every effort to respond to the needs and wishes of parents. But this isn’t always the case. With or without a voucher or tax credit scheme, public schools are in an increasingly competitive environment. Customer service, if you want to call it that, is awfully important.



6. Embrace choices. Innovative programs, magnet schools, and alternative education obviously require money as well as support from administrators, elected board members, and community leaders – all of which goes way beyond basic PR efforts. But, needless to say, the more the public system can create exciting choices, the weaker the case is for private school choice. And, speaking as public school parents ourselves, the idea of magnet schools and other specialized offerings is certainly attractive.



Finally, we believe people in South Carolina care about public education. But continued support, especially in the political arena, cannot be taken for granted. SCRG and affiliated groups haven’t crushed support for public schools. But they’re doing all they can to chip away. They’ve got plenty of financial backing and claim to be in this fight for the long haul. People on the side of public education need to be on the offensive.