VOUCHER AND CHOICE PLANS

WHEREAS, federally funded private school voucher and choice plans will put needed resources from public schools, divide students along class, religious and ethnic grounds, reduce accountability in education without improving student achievement; and

WHEREAS, on January 23, 1992, the U.S. Senate rejected a federally funded voucher demonstration project by a 57-to-36 vote and passed the Neighborhood Schools Improvement Act (S. 2) without any language that would allow vouchers or other private school choice schemes; and

WHEREAS, in its version of the Neighborhood Schools Improvement Act (H.R. 4323), the Education and Labor Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives has removed language that would allow states to use federal funds to implement private school voucher or private school choice plans:

RESOLVED, that the AFT will oppose, any attempt to add language to S. 2 or H.R. 4323 that would allow federal dollars to be used to fund private school voucher or private school choice plans; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT will continue to oppose all efforts on the federal and state levels to allow public funds to be used to support private school voucher or private school choice plans.