VOUCHERS

The Reagan administration has proposed turning ESEA Title I into a voucher program. The outline of the plan would allow any state to require a local school district to apportion their Title I funds into vouchers by dividing the funds among the children who are eligible for Title I services. It should be remembered that more than 11 million children are eligible for Title I services, but, only 5.4 million currently receive services due to a shortage of funds. Those eligible for the vouchers who choose to use private schools would take their vouchers to the private schools, the rest would be allocated among the public schools attended by the children who remain.

If a state chose not to require vouchers by their local education agencies the local school district would be empowered to proceed with vouchers on its own. This is truly one of the most destructive plans ever advocated by the federal government. It would destroy Title I, a program of proven effectiveness and replace it with a constitutionally objectionable scheme that would supplant the goal of student achievement with one of aiding private schools. This plan must be stopped.

Some of the major features of Title I are: Title I serves 5.4 million students in local school districts in every state of the Union; 4.2 million of these students are receiving extra instructional help in reading, and 2.5 million are receiving extra help in math (obviously, some are receiving both). An additional 658,000 children are served by state-operated Title I programs for migratory, handicapped and neglected or delinquent children. Of the 5.4 million children, 51 percent are white, 29 percent black and 16 percent Hispanic; 35 percent live in rural areas, 30 percent in small cities and 24 percent in large cities. By our last estimate, Title I funds were used to employ 200,000 teachers, paraprofessionals and other professional staff and to provide training to 186,000 Title I teachers and paraprofessionals and 114,000 non-Title I teachers.

In addition, Title I generates a tremendous amount of involvement by over 500,000 parents of Title I children. Title I programs provide smaller classes, additional instruction in reading and math, and have generated many exemplary programs: of the 140 programs nationwide designated as outstanding by the Education Department, 53 were funded by Title I.

The Education Commission of the States in its National Assessment of Education Progress concluded that "disadvantaged youngsters and low-achieving students made considerable gains especially in elementary school. Black low-achievers recorded the biggest gains, improving their reading and mathematical abilities and holding their own in science." The study ascribed the gains to federally funded compensatory education programs and the "back to basics" movement in reading. This is only the latest evidence of the effectiveness of Title I. Other studies have shown similar results.

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers opposes the bill to turn Title I into a voucher program and that we press the Congress to fund Title 1 at the level called for in the Congressional Budget Resolution of $3.8 billion; and

RESOLVED, that we acknowledge that the targeting of Title I on basic skills instruction for disadvantaged youngsters continues to be the proper model for a federal compensatory aid program.