DeVos: School choice should expand, but not from Washington D.C.

INDIANAPOLIS — Rather than reveal President Trump's national education proposal as initial reports suggested on Monday, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos — addressing the American Federation for Children in Indianapolis — spoke adamantly about how education shouldn't be run from Washington, D.C.

"The President is proposing the most ambitious expansion of education choice in our nation’s history," she said during the political action committee's conference. "... If a state doesn’t want to participate, that would be a terrible mistake on their part. They will be hurting the children and families who can least afford it."

It was not clear from her speech, however, what that "ambitious expansion" will look like, or how much money would be allocated to charter schools or voucher programs.

On the campaign trail, Trump proposed giving families $20 billion for school choice. In his 2018 budget, being released Tuesday, Trump is expected to propose $1.4 billion in new spending on school choice, part of a larger plan to shrink federal involvement in education and give parents a bigger role in choosing their children's school. That comes in a budget that’s expected to cut support for the U.S. Education Department by 13.6%, or about $9.2 billion. The cuts would come from eliminating at least 22 programs, including $1.2 billion for afterschool programs and $2.1 billion for teacher training and class-size reduction, The Washington Post reported last week.

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Indiana's voucher program is already the largest in the country, in part because of DeVos. Known as the Choice Scholarship Program, it serves more than 34,000 low-to-middle-income children at more than 300 private schools statewide at the cost of $146 million a year.

DeVos played an influential role in developing Indiana's voucher program, in part by routing millions of dollars in campaign contributions and school choice support.

In his opening comments, Gov. Eric Holcomb also emphasized the state's tax credit program, which offers a $1,000 tax deduction to parents whose child is enrolled in private school or is home-schooled, according to EdChoice, a school choice organization formally known as the Friedman Foundation. The state also offers individuals and businesses a 50% tax credit for donating to five approved organizations that provide private-school scholarships.

Politico reported that President Trump's school-choice education proposal is thought to include a similar but broader program, with tax breaks for parents of children in private schools that, if passed by Congress, could channel billions of public dollars toward private schools.

Initially, DeVos was expected to release more details Monday. When asked about the federal budget before the event, DeVos said the administration will be "focusing on what works for the behalf of students and focusing on supporting that," but said more details would be released in the "days to come." 

A leading proponent of private-school choice, DeVos last January asked lawmakers during her Senate confirmation hearing, “Why, in 2017, are we still questioning parents’ ability to exercise educational choice for their children?”

GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill have responded, floating several proposals to give families taxpayer-funded tuition and federal tax credits to help them send their kids to the school of their choice.

But even with the legislative and executive branches controlled by Republicans, conservative policy wonks in DeVos’ own party in March warned the administration to move carefully on school choice.

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“I think that there are real reasons to be worried about how on earth this thing comes out right,” Mike Petrilli of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a right-leaning D.C. education think tank, told USA TODAY.

While school choice advocates steadfastly support the federal government underwriting small private-school voucher efforts in places like Washington, D.C., and in Bureau of Indian Affairs schools, among others, several conservative D.C. education thinkers have cautioned that the administration should think twice before expanding school choice nationwide.

“When I hear folks talking about getting Washington involved in tuition tax credits for scholarship-granting organizations, and I hear the proposals that are being broadly floated, it makes me extraordinarily nervous,” said the American Enterprise Institute’s Rick Hess. He said his biggest concern was that federal regulations, oversight and vast infusions of cash could "distort" an eclectic, and in some cases thriving, private-school market.

Betsy Wiley, president of the Institute for Quality Education — one of the approved organizations in Indiana's tax credit scholarship program — said she hoped the federal proposal will work with standing state programs. She said federal support could help broaden scholarships in Indiana by attracting more donors.

"We're about making sure that all Hoosier families, all Hoosier students ... have access to the highest quality education that they can," she said.

But opponents of expanding school choice point out there's little proof that students are performing better in private schools after receiving a voucher. There's also less financial oversight for private schools.

When asked about this, DeVos said: "Parents are the ones to whom schools ... should be first accountable, and beyond that we should be focused on what the outcomes are, what are kids achieving."

Even before DeVos spoke, Indiana State Teachers Association President Teresa Meredith was worried the proposal would have a negative affect on public schools. The association held a protest in support of public schools across the street before the event.

"We just think that it’s not right to be taking the scarce resources that we already have … and looking to spend them elsewhere," Meredith said. "Something has to be cut from (public school student's) education in order to fund a small percentage of children."

Contributing: Greg Toppo, USA TODAY. Follow Emma Kate Fittes on Twitter: @IndyEmmaKate