(Free Article) School Choice: Administrators have more questions than answers on issue

By Paul Keane

The Wayne County News

For local officials, it appears the more they look into the school 
choice matter being considered by the Mississippi Legislature the more 
questions seem to arise.

From how the legislation is written — with or without vouchers and how 
money allocated for individual students — to how private schools and 
home schooled students will be effected are all issues school 
administrators are grappling with.

Then there is the matter of how to plan for teachers and their 
contracts, providing services for students and how to juggle things when 
everything could become very fluid. Add in the athletics factor and 
things become hazy at best before the legislature begins meeting in 
January to take up the issue of allowing parents to choose where their 
children attend school.

Administrators in school districts without a private school in their 
district, administrators with private schools in their districts and 
athletic officials were all interviewed for this story. The following 
are various angles on the issue.

What Will Things Look Like?

For Wayne County Superintendent of Education Tommy Branch, the biggest 
question is what will the legislation look like when it is formulated 
and eventually voted upon.

"What will it be?" Branch asked. "We hear all of these stories, but what 
will the actual legislation be?

"If they open it up, will anyone have a true school district? Will a 
voucher system be open to private schools or will it be public to public 
school? There are just a lot of questions out there and we're not really 
sure what the final legislation will look like."

Franklin County Superintendent of Education Chris Kent echoed similar 
sentiments, adding that funding for either more or less students each 
year will be a challenge at best.

"I'm not asking for more money," Kent said, "I just don't want the state 
to cut the funding that we are already getting. If they open it up to 
private schools, then the funding has to come from somewhere.

"I'm hearing that there are roughly 55,000 students in private schools. 
I've also heard that the voucher program would be between $8-12,000 per 
student. The problem is that we've not seen what the legislation will be 
right now. As a (private school) parent, you would be a fool not to 
apply for a voucher to use with the private school that the child is 
already attending."

Kent then gave a basic formula for how vouchers could drain funding from 
public schools.

"Let's just say that 40,000 of those families with kids in private 
school apply for and receive vouchers, and that each voucher is worth 
$8,000," Kent said. "Based on those numbers, that's $320 million that 
has to come from somewhere. 

"The legislature will probably put something in for the first year to 
prop that up, but the legislature can't sustain it. If it could, it 
would fully fund public education. The money has to come from somewhere.

"We still have to educate the kids that we have in our schools. I'm not 
asking for more money for our district. I'm just asking that you don't 
cut my funding."

Wayne County Assistant Superintendent Lynn Revette — in a separate 
interview — presented similar numbers.

"If private schools get vouchers, that's $300-350 million right now," 
she said. "Where will those funds come from? Also, when you have public 
dollars, will you have to provide transportation?"

Not only private schools are a factor in the issue, home schooling 
families could receive funding as well. Again, the legislation is still 
being developed so administrators have more questions than answers.

For both private schools and home school programs, public school 
administrators are asking if the same standards they are held to will be 
the same for those groups.

"Will have have to meet the same standards as we do if they get public 
money?" Branch asked. "We don't know all that it's going to be, but what 
the standards would be for private groups to receive funding is a big 
question."

Kent said if home school programs receive funding through whatever 
funding mechanism, it could actually put a bigger burden on public 
schools.

"If I have three kids and decide to home school them because I can 
receive vouchers to help pay for it, that would be $24,000," Kent said. 
"That could cut my (school district's) funding by $24,000. 

"Then say in January the family decides to move them back to our public 
school. I still have to educate them and they may have fallen behind. 
I'm still accountable for their results but my funding was cut at the 
start of the school year because the home schooled family received the 
funding at the start of the school year."

Classes, Teachers and Testing

With any type of school choice, administrators say that making sure 
there are enough teachers in place to work with students will become a 
juggling act.

Around Franklin County, most neighboring school districts are similar to 
the local district in regards to accountability ratings. Franklin County 
overall is a "B" while Lincoln County is an "A"; Amite County and 
Brookhaven are "B's;" Lawrence County, Jefferson County and McComb are 
all "C's;" and Wilkinson County is an "F."

For districts surrounding Wayne County, things are similar as well. 
Wayne County is a "B," Jones County is an "A," Greene County, West 
Jasper, Richton, Smith County, East Japer and Perry County are all 
"B's;" while Quitman and Laurel are "C's."

"I don't think our enrollment will be hurt," Kent said. "We'll lose some 
to West Lincoln — and we already have some students who have 
transferred there because it's closer to their homes — but I believe 
we will pick up more students from other counties.

"The thing is that we won't get paid for those students until next year. 
You won't get the money until the next school year. That does cause some 
challenges in planning for teachers and classrooms that are needed."

"Federal and state funding is based on last year," Revette said. "If you 
have a flood of kids leave one year and then come back the next year, we 
won't have the funding because (for the year after students come back) 
so that will fall on the local level."

Branch said funding is based on the number of students in a district but 
that number would become fluid with school choice, meaning that bigger 
shortfalls in state and federal funding would need to be made up at the 
local level with higher ad valorem taxes.

Then there is the issue of how vouchers could affect private schools. 
Many administrators feel that vouchers could actually increase private 
school tuition simply from the standpoint of having to hire more 
teachers and create more classroom space.

Branch used the example of college tuition increases as financial aid 
and other programs to cover costs became more available. He added that 
any school — public or private — would have to hire more teachers 
and possibly build more classrooms should students flood a single 
school.

In Wayne County, the Board of Education regularly approves student 
transfers, both inside the district and to neighboring school districts. 
School choice would make that a mute point and could cause plenty of 
issues.

Revette and Branch both said the current transfer policies being 
utilized by Wayne County are working, but that if hundreds of students 
suddenly could transfer — even within the district to a different 
school — things could become harried in a hurry.

"Say that we have 100 students transfer to Clara School for the school 
year and it fills that school to capacity," Branch said. "Then say you 
have a student who actually moves into the Clara attendance zone but the 
school is at capacity. How do you tell that student they can't attend 
the school they should naturally be attending because the school is at 
capacity?"

Many cities have already approved resolutions opposing school voice 
between public and private schools. The City of Clinton has done so and 
other cities are following suit. The idea behind the resolutions are to 
point out that schools could quickly become overcrowded, thereby hurting 
students as a whole.

Both Kent and Branch both said having school boards pass measures to 
limit class size would be a key to hopefully limiting some issues. 
Branch said that even private schools would face similar problems, 
especially with having to possibly build more facilities to accommodate 
students and their needs.

There is also the matter of testing and admissions standards, especially 
for private school students.

"Right now, there is no state testing with private schools," Branch 
said. "Also, private schools have the option to not accept students, 
which I understand. Are private schools going to be willing to accept 
any student? If I were in their shoes, I would want to keep things the 
way they are right now where a private school can decide if the student 
is a good fit for their school or not."

What About Sports?

Many people involved in or that will be affected by the issue of school 
choice echo numerous concerns about athletics and the fear that things 
could turn into a transfer portal situation like what is happening at 
the collegiate level now.

Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Executive 
Director Ricky Neaves said he and his staff are hoping to work with 
legislators to make sure that doesn't happen.

"We are working with the legislature to include wording allowing for 
transfers to be academic but that athletic eligibility be governed by 
MHSAA," Neaves said. "If that wording is not in the legislation, then we 
could become the Wild, Wild West.

"It could be like what they have in Florida, which is wide open for 
athletics. You can have a student play football at one school, 
basketball at another and baseball in another. I think that would be a 
terrible situation."

Currently, unless a student and his or her family make a legitimate move 
into a new school district, then the student-athlete must sit out a year 
before being allowed to play at the new school. In the Mid-South 
Association of Independent Schools (MAIS), eligibility for the most part 
is governed by the calendar, with students ineligible to play if they 
enroll after a certain date of the season.

In addition, there are private schools who have moved from the MAIS into 
the MHSAA and compete against public schools and for championships 
sanctioned by the MHSAA. Neaves said those schools are restricted by a 
20-mile radius around the school when it comes to athletes playing for 
their teams.

The director said work continues on being a part of offering input into 
any legislation that is drawn up.

"We are trying to get a seat at the table," Neaves said. "I'm for school 
choice as long as MHSAA governs the athletic side of things. If the 
legislature doesn't put that language in the bill, then we would have to 
follow the law.

"Our biggest fear is that this could upset the competitive balance that 
we've worked so hard over the years to build for our teams and schools."

The MHSAA is a member-only organization that is not governed by the 
state nor the Mississippi Department of Education. MAIS is similar in 
that it is not governed by state agencies nor departments.

Haves and Have-Nots

Then there comes the factor of transportation costs. As it stands now, 
for the most part, private school students are transported by parents or 
family members. Public schools are required to provide transportation 
for all students needing or wanting it.

"Say choice is for everyone," Branch said. "If the parents don't have 
the means to get students to a new district, what happens? How will you 
help them? There are a lot of questions still out there."

Kent said school choice could actually hurt the students that the 
legislature is trying to help the most.

"The families who can afford it will move their children and provide 
transportation for them," he said. "The one who can't get here are the 
ones who more times than not need it the most.

"That bothers me most of all. I'm for school choice for those who need 
this, which is those who are economically or socially disadvantaged and 
in low performing districts. I don't want to set something up where only 
the middle- and upper-class families are benefitting."

Branch echoed similar sentiments.

"Let's say it is for everyone — public and private," he said. "If the 
parents don't have the means to get kids to their new school, how will 
you help them? There are just a lot of questions on how it will work."

"It will make a bigger divide between the haves and have-nots," Revette 
said.

There is also the question of community and how having fluid student 
enrollments would affect those issues.

"Do you really have a community school if people are coming in from all 
over?" Branch asked. "In many areas, a community is built around the 
school that is there. If you have new enrollments every year, do you 
even have a community?"