'Far right' may demand voucher pilot Bill, says Whip Tom DeLay

The "far right" wing of the Republican majority in Congress may demand action on voucher subsidies for religious schools before agreeing to support other provisions in President George W. Bush's education package, says House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas).

In a recent interview with The Washington Times, DeLay noted that activists on "the far right" are "a little worried" about Bush's education proposal, which would increase spending and require states to step up student testing. Although the proposal contains a voucher provision, some conservatives fear the administration will not push it.

"They are sort of 'trust but verify,'" DeLay said. "If we can do something [on vouchers], we won't lose as many conservatives - a first step, for instance. A pilot program, that's the way to do it. Instead of dropping vouchers, you work on a compromise on vouchers that will get you 218 votes."

Education Secretary Rod Paige has also moved recently to mollify GOP concerns over the administration's commitment to vouchers. Some voucher boosters were alarmed after Sen. James Jeffords (R-Vt.) left vouchers out of an education package that was pushed in the Senate in early March.

Paige said the voucher concept could be promoted through charter schools instead. "We've already said it's OK to take state dollars and buy educational services from private entrepreneurs, which most charter schools are," he told The Washington Times. "So if we Want to deal with the voucher issue, then we'd have to call that a group voucher. In other words, take the money from the state, give it to a school and let them go find a child. We call it a charter."

Bush and members of his administration are well aware that the term "voucher" has negative connotations to many voters. Recently they have been talking about using different phrases for the concept. In the interview with The Times, Paige talked about "portability" -- the idea of allowing students to take a per capita allocation of funding and use it to pay for tuition at charter schools or private institutions.

The Senate is scheduled to deliberate the full Bush education package this month or in early May. Members of the House, meanwhile, plan to introduce an education bill in early April that contains a voucher provision, although that word will probably not appear in the measure.

Rep. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) told The Times last month that the bill would feature the "portability" concept and would allow students in public schools deemed "failing" to take federal funding under the Title I program and use it to pay for tuition at private institutions.

House Democrats said they are open to using the bill to foster public school choice, but they draw the line at vouchers. Asked about the "portability" concept, Danny Weiss, a spokesman for Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) said, "Democrats oppose use of public-school funds for private schools. That is a voucher."

Copyright Americans United for Separation of Church and State Apr 2001
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