Bush said he was sticking with his education proposal, which calls, among other things, for parents to receive tuition vouchers that would allow them to send their children to private schools. “In the course of the campaign,
I said that we were going to insist upon strong accountability -- that if a district or school receives federal money, they must measure so we know (if children are learning),” Bush said.
If after a period of time, the schools did not meet certain standards, the federal monies that would have been spent on each child in the school system could be used by parents to send their children to private schools, Bush said,
but left room for debate: “I’ve always believed that a voucher plan is up to the states.”
Source: CNN.com reporting from USA Today
Jan 12, 2001
Vouchers are up to states; allow local control
GORE [to Bush]: Governor Bush is for vouchers. And in his plan, he proposes to drain more money, more taxpayer money, out of the public schools for private school vouchers than all of the money that he proposes in his entire budget for public schools
themselves. And only one in 20 students would be eligible for these vouchers, and they wouldn’t even pay the full tuition to private school.
BUSH: First of all, vouchers are up to states. If you want to do a voucher program in Missouri, fine. I’m a
governor of a state and I don’t like it when the federal government tell us what to do. I believe in local control of schools.
GORE: Under your plan, Governor Bush, states would be required to pay vouchers to students, to match the vouchers that the
federal government would put up. Under his plan, if a school was designated as failing, the kids would be trapped there for another three years, and then some of them would get federal vouchers, and the state would be forced to match that money.
Source: (X-ref Gore) St. Louis debate
Oct 17, 2000
Allow “charter states” as well as charter schools
Bush is keener than Gore on structural reform based on parental choice. He tried to introduce vouchers in Texas, but failed. He would:
Force failing schools to improve their performance with the
sick of being closed down (after a 3-year period) and the carrot of getting more money.
Schools that receive federal money for educating poor children will be given three years to improve their performance.
Students at schools that fail will be given “exit vouchers” (worth an average of $1,500) for use at public or private schools of their choice.
Allow states (as opposed to schools) to become “charter states”:
in return for a promise to improve the achievements of poor children, they will have more freedom from regulation.
Source: The Economist, “Issues 2000”
Sep 30, 2000
One size does not fit all in education
One size does not fit all when it comes to educating our children, so local people should control local schools. And those who spend your tax dollars must be held accountable.
When a school district receives federal funds to teach poor children,
we expect them to learn. And if they don’t, parents should get the money to make a different choice.
And now is the time to make Head Start an early learning program, teach all our children to read, and renew the promise of America’s public schools.
Source: Speech to Republican National Convention
Aug 3, 2000
Money from failed schools can go to charters or tutors too
If the schools are not teaching children, then something has to happen. We cannot continue to pour money into schools that won’t teach. As opposed to subsidizing failure, we ought to free the parent to make a different choice. It could be a public
school. It could be a charter school. It could be a tutorial. It could be anything other than the status quo. Saying, “they’re taking money from public schools” assumes that children can’t learn. I believe children can learn.
Source: PBS Frontline interview, “The Battle Over School Choice”
May 23, 2000
Tax money to religious schools OK, if they’re teaching kids
Q: Do you see any problem with taxpayers’ money going to a religious education?
A: No. I don’t at all. What I have trouble with is people accepting failure, with people turning a blind eye to the fact that schools are not teaching children.
And I also have trouble with the federal government mandating school systems to behave one way or the other. The best way to encourage excellence is to free people to innovate. The federal government should not mandate choice and charters.
Source: PBS Frontline interview, “The Battle Over School Choice”
May 23, 2000
Profit-making schools OK, as long as kids learn
Q: What about running schools on a profit-making basis?
A: Here’s my question: are the children learning? So much of the debate is focused on process. I’m going to focus the debate on results and accountability. If the children are meeting
standards, we ought to applaud the delivery mechanism. I welcome all kinds of innovation into the system, recognizing that one size doesn’t fit all, and understanding that the best reforms are those that have been tried at the local level.
Source: PBS Frontline interview, “The Battle Over School Choice”
May 23, 2000
Fund 2,000 charter schools; defund failing schools
Called for the creation of charter [schools] that would receive maximum flexibility with federal funds in return for meeting high performance measures in increasing student achievement
Supports increasing choices for parents in the education
of their children by allowing federal funds to be used for public and private school choice and innovative education programs
Supports expanding education savings accounts for parents to increase their annual contributions from $500 per student to
$5,000 and withdraw funds tax free to pay for education expenses from Kindergarten to college
Supports establishing a Charter School Homestead Fund to provide $3 billion of loan guarantees to help establish or improve 2,000 charter schools
nationwide in two years
Supports giving parents of Title I students trapped in persistently failing schools federal education dollars in a portable account to use in a school or program of their choice
Al Gore has gone into low performing schools & claimed my plan would undermine them. Gore has told schools, in essence, “You are hopeless. We won’t set high standards, because you’ll never achieve them.” This is not a defense of public education; it is a
surrender to despair. I want to solve our education problems; Gore wants to subsidize them. I will work for children & parents. He will work for the entrenched interests that fund his campaigns. I will challenge the status quo; Al Gore is the status quo.
Source: Remarks after Southern primaries
Mar 15, 2000
If schools fail for 3 years, funding becomes “portable”
Bush has avoided using the politically laden term “vouchers,” and instead says federal education money should be “portable.” Bush would, in effect, give vouchers of up to $1,500 each to students in low-performing schools that fail to improve after three
years. These vouchers would be financed with money drawn from the Title 1 program. His voucher proposal would probably face stiff opposition in Congress, which declined to consider a proposal that would have created the very vouchers Bush seeks.
Source: New York Times
Feb 29, 2000
Charters encourage innovative methods & provide choices
Charter schools encourage educational entrepreneurs to try innovative methods. They break up the monopoly of one-size-fits-all education. These diverse, creative schools are proof that parents from all walks of life are
willing to challenge the status quo if it means a better education for their children. More competition and more choices for parents and students will raise the bar for everyone.
Source: “A Charge to Keep”, p.233 - 234
Dec 9, 1999
$3 billion for Charter School Fund
Bush said he would require states to “test every child, every year, in grades 3 through 8.” Bush also would expand the federal Education Savings Account program to $5,000 a year per child for use in elementary and high schools. Currently, families can
invest just $500 per child per year in the tax-free, interest-bearing accounts, and the money can only be used for college.
Source: Beth J. Harpaz, Associated Press
Oct 5, 1999
School decisions by parents, not federal judges
Bush criticized the decision of a federal judge to suspend a Cleveland voucher program for more than 4,000 poor children, as “judicial overreach with serious casualties - Cleveland’s disadvantaged school children. Parents & local communities should have
the right to chart their own path. If Ohio has decided to give Cleveland parents a choice of where to spend local education dollars, that decision should be left to parents, not federal judges. The court’s decision should be reversed.”
Source: News Release “Cleveland Voucher Program”
Aug 26, 1999
Let poor people choose their schools, like rich people do
Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that parents should not be able to choose where to send their children to school. Nowhere does it say that only people who can afford it should be able to choose to send their children to schools with quality
academics and sound discipline, but poor people should not. We must say, clearly and emphatically, that the people who need help should not merely be passive recipients of a handout, but should have the freedom to choose where they receive services.
Source: News Release “Cleveland Voucher Program”
Aug 26, 1999
Vouchers a priority; encourage their spread
Although he has been unsuccessful in persuading the Texas Legislature to enact a modest school voucher program, Bush said he would make vouchers a priority as president. Noting vouchers were ‘public enemy number one’ to some advocates of public schools,
Bush added, “We’ve got to figure out how to encourage the spread of vouchers so as to improve public schools and to convince people it will improve public schools. And we have not done a good job yet in Texas, apparently.”
Source: Dan Balz, The Washington Post
Apr 25, 1999
Supports vouchers, including private or religious schools.
Bush’s long-term support for school vouchers [would] allow Texans to pay for tuition at private or religious schools with public funds.
Source: www.csmonitor.com/durable/1997/12/05/us/us.1.html 12/31/98
Dec 31, 1998
Vouchers tied to “accountability system”
If a child is attending a failed school and that parent is unable to find a public school to accept that child. our state [should] pay parents to send their children to any school of their choice-provided the school they pick is willing to participate in
the Texas accountability system. We must not trap students in low-performing schools. We must give every child the opportunity to succeed. If this plan works-great! If it doesn’t then we should say, Interesting idea-at least Texas was bold enough to try.
Source: Natl.Center for Policy Analysis, Dallas, TX
Mar 31, 1998
“Home rule” with state standards
“Home Rule Education Districts” [allows] any school district which so chooses. to declare itself free from any state mandate. So long as the district meets state standards, the local people should be free to chart the course to educational excellence.
The state has a role, but it is not to micromanage local districts. The state should set high standards and hold teachers and administrators accountable for results. Our measuring system should be stable and open for review.
Source: 1995 State of the State Address, Austin TX
Feb 7, 1995
Click here for 5 older quotations from George W. Bush on School Choice.
Click here for definitions & background information on School Choice.
