More Tax Dollars for Charter Schools

With the Republicans poised to take control of the United States Senate for the next two years, the bleeding of tax dollars from our nation’s public schools to charter schools will likely increase.   Unfortunately, most citizens have no idea this is happening.  Not surprisingly, school choice and vouchers are a top priority for Republic leaders in the House and Senate.  According to Education Week, Speaker of the House John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell have pledged a renewed effort to debate and vote on the many bills that passed the Republican-led House in recent years with bipartisan support, but were never even brought to a vote by the Democratic Senate majority.  These bills include legislation to support innovative charter schools around the country.  However, while the majority of Americans support the concept of charter schools, they do not support using their tax dollars to pay for them.  In its 2014 poll of public attitudes toward our country’s public schools, Phi Delta Kappan and Gallup reported that while two out of three Americans like the idea that charter schools operate under a charter or contract that frees them from many of the state regulations imposed on public schools and permits them to operate independently, they oppose using their tax dollars to fund them.