Vouchers and tuition tax deductions historically have been marketed as a way for low-income families in under-performing school districts to provide better educations for their children. In most places they have been tried, the data shows that, ironically, middle- and upper-income families often benefit most. The tax credits in Illinois are a perfect example of how poor families seldom benefit from programs that are supposed to help them.
While that situation can best be described as tragic, the constant Republican support for vouchers is more appropriately deemed comical; even hypocritical. When you consider the typical voucher campaign, whether on the state or national levels, the most aggressive supporters and lobbyists tend to be conservative groups. In fact, I can honestly say that I have never seen a vouchers campaign that truly rose up from the lower-income communities; by contrast, I have seen several that were originated by conservative or religious entities looking to tap into taxpayer money.
What is amazing about Republican support for vouchers is that the Republicans are supposed to be the free-market party. Why are they doing trying to encourage taxpayer-funded bailouts or subsidization of private schools?
In a recent New York Post article, Cardinal Edward Egan talked about all of the things New York City Catholic schools could do if they were able to tap into state funding. That idea, by the way, enjoys support from many Republicans. Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Diocese has had to close several schools that were losing money in Brooklyn and Queens – nearly two dozen closed at the end of 2005.
What would the Republican response be if these were regular businesses, and not schools? Well, a free-market capitalist, as the Republicans claim to be, would say that if the business fails, that is simply the free market at work. If you offer a product for which there is real demand, the free market will treat you well. If you don’t, expect to close shop.
If a religious group — such as the Brooklyn Diocese — or a private entity have to shut schools, it is because they failed to create enough demand for their service to offset costs. The long-standing claim of private education proponents is that they can offer a better and more fiscally responsible product than public entities. And, in our free market, they have every right to try. But when their private enterprises fail, they don’t deserve a taxpayer bailout, and they certainly don’t deserve the support of a political group that is supposed to advocate free-market capitalism.