The voucher crowd is at it again, trying to get its schemes for public funding of private schools in through the back door. The latest version--announced Thursday by State Sen. John Ford (Rep., Bartlesville), the chairman of the education committee of the State Senate--would give state tax credits to donors to scholarship programs for special needs children to attend private schools.
Hidden behind the charitable veneer is the real purpose: establishing the pattern of public funding (after being washed through the hands of the so-called donors) going into private school bank accounts.
Oklahoma has a public school system that can handle special needs children. It’s expensive, but that’s one of the reasons we pay taxes.
If private schools want to serve the same population, great. If charitable impulses lead the wealthy to fund scholarships to aid that process, lovely.
But don’t try to convince us that that’s what is going on here. This is a contrivance to take state tax money away from public schools and give it to private schools.
Once that process starts, you can bet the farm that it won’t just be about special needs children any more. The real goal here is general funding of private schools with tax money and that is not acceptable.
