Johnson Unveils Theme Of Likely Race
For Lieutenant Governor: Universal School Choice
By Dick Pettys
InsiderAdvantage Georgia
(7/31/09) Unveiling what likely will be a major theme of his expected
run for lieutenant governor in 2010, Senate President Pro Tem Eric
Johnson, R-Savannah, called Thursday for a major re-tooling of education
in Georgia to put school choice in the hands of parents and vest
local school boards with much more power to decide how they spend
educational dollars.
Johnson said that under his proposal, Georgia would become the
first state in the nation to allow universal school choice along
with a voucher system for those who wish to send their children
to attend private schools. But he cited two polls as evidence Georgians
already are ahead of their elected policy-makers in embracing that
idea, and said the current system has become increasingly difficult
to defend.
“Bureaucrats in Atlanta tell bureaucrats in the local system
what to tell the teachers to teach, and finally somebody in Washington
decides whether a school is good or bad,” Johnson said at
a special conference sponsored by the Georgia Public Policy Foundation.
“Our schools are an eight-track tape player in an iPod world.”
Here is what he is proposing:
* Determine what it costs to fully fund education and how that
should be divided between the parents and local and state government,
and then fund it. “It should be a simple formula. There should
be no excuses,” he said.
* Let the money follow the child, whether the parents choose a
public or private school.
* Use alternative certification options to attract the best people
into teaching.
* Give teachers and principals the necessary tools to maintain
discipline.
* Design a reasonable method to measure outcomes.
* Provide public school choice but with parents responsible for
providing transportation should they choose a school other than
one in their neighborhood. Also, students choosing to move would
sign a contract with the new school promising to attend class, study
hard and behave or they could be sent back.
* Provide vouchers equal to the taxes spent on education to every
child to attend any private school that will accept them.
Johnson already is the author of SB 10, which was passed during
the 2007 session and provides vouchers to special-needs students.
In its first year, 117 schools and 907 students participated.
The polls which Johnson cited included one conducted by InsiderAdvantage
/ Majority Opinion Research on a statewide basis on June 26 which
showed that 68 percent of 400 respondents support the idea of giving
all public school children the option to attend a public or private
school of their parents’ choice if there were no new costs
to taxpayers. The poll showed that support for the idea crossed
racial lines, with 72 percent of whites and 59 percent of blacks
expressing support.
A separate poll conducted by a different firm showed similar results
in metro Atlanta.
Johnson said his proposal won’t harm public schools but nevertheless
will be opposed by a public school bureaucracy which believes that
only it can make good decisions for parents. Competition will make
all schools better, he said.
|
