What? A Private School Bus Stipend?
Ok, I’m ready for it. A transplant from Texas dares to question the Delaware practice of providing private school parents who apply a stipend to transport their children to a non-public school? Yes. Admittedly I was shocked to learn that this is a pretty longstanding practice here and in a number of other states. Apparently also there is funding of school nurses in private schools.
I was heartened to read that Governor Markell is trying to get the transportation subsidy, averaging somewhere around $168 for about 11,000 students, axed from the budget. And I further heartened that he has opposed this subsidy since his first campaign.
I’m shocked on three levels. First, that the private schools, especially the religious schools, are willing to accept government funding. I thought the religious institutions wanted to be left alone from any government intrusion or rules.
Second, I’m stunned that conservatives share the same desire to be “left alone” from government meddling, unless apparently it has something to do with what happens in America’s bedrooms and American women’s bodies, where government meddling is OK. Or in some cases, what is taught in science classes in American schools which might seem to contradict scripture.
Third, that this aspect of the Delaware Way includes what appears to me to be a basic violation of separation of church and state. And further, a hit on the already dismal support of public education and their budgets here and almost everywhere.
I am particularly interested in hearing views from Delaware liberals who support this subsidy and also claim to support the separation of church and state or at least, the vital contribution public education has and can make in turning our body politic into a real democracy.
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I’m a transplant to DE from NYC, so my opinion may not count, but here it is. Private school parents pay school taxes and the courts have always ruled that ancillary services like busing, remedial help after school and school health check ups can be paid for with state funds w/out violating the Constitution. The students would be entitled to busing if they went to public school, so it’s not like they are taking more than their fair share.
Yeah. This is bullshit. Most school’s fundraise off it by asking parents to sign their stipend directly over tot he school. So essentially tax payers are helping subsidized private schools.
It isn’t AS bad as Pennsylvanian where private school books are paid for (in part) by tax payers, but it isn’t great.
Free from government intrusion? Hardly. Every school, public or private, has to meet the minimum number of classroom hours and curriculum standards set by the state Department of Education. Private schools are eligible for federal Title I funding; nearly every religious and private college accepts this money. The flip side is that they must meet federal requirements, such as those set forth by Title IX.
Also, nurses are not part of the curriculum. And in the Catholic elementary schools, which I’m most familiar with, the funding does not pay for the full five-day week. Some schools share a nurse, while others make up the difference themselves. It’s pretty tough to operate a schools without one when even the simplest tasks that parents do every day are mandated (by the government) to be completed by a nurse.
I don’t mind paying for public schools because I believe a well-educated citizenry is crucial to our society. And could I live without the stipend? Absolutely. But it’s the only thing I’ve ever gotten in return for the school taxes I pay every year, which are more than 10 times that amount.
“Every school, public or private, has to meet the minimum number of classroom hours and curriculum standards set by the state Department of Education.”
No, they don’t. Who’s feeding you that line of bullshit? There is almost no oversight of private schools in Delaware.
As for the transportation payment, it’s received by the parents, not schools. I personally donate mine to my son’s school. It’s not really skin off my back if it’s cut or not; part of sending your kid to a private school is hauling them there yourself. $168 isn’t helping a huge amount. I was kind of surprised to learn about this a few years back, myself.
When I pay school taxes, I know I’m doing more than paying for my kids’ education. I’m helping ensure that the society they grow up in is a civil and educated one.
Here’s a bigger picture: Private schools are “choice” schools. Charter schools are “choice” schools. Both of these “choice” students receive transportation funds, whereas public school “choice” students receive no transportation stipend. Public school “choice” students/parents are 100% responsible for their transportation costs. Explain that one!
This has been an issue off and on since the ’70s. Two factors have prevented the elimination of this budget line: (1) the strength of the private/Catholic school populace and their lobbyists; and (2) the court decisions, already noted here, that have affirmed government spending on behalf of non-education services to private/religious schools.
The subsidy, some 30 years ago, was a flat $200 per child. Taking inflation into account, I’d venture an estimate that the subsidy, in inflation-adjusted dollars, is now worth about half of what it once was.
Once upon a time, I received the subsidy on behalf of my kids for a couple of years, and I’m no more ashamed of having taken it than I would have been for receiving a pittance of a housing allowance when I was in the Navy. In essence, if that’s the government policy, and the courts have affirmed the practice, there’s no point in not accepting the benefit.
Given the longstanding history of the budget line, and its relative shrinkage over time, I don’t see this as an issue to get worked up over. $1.8 million is peanuts compared to the cost of educating another 11,000 kids if they decided to quit private schools and enter the public system. I’m not justifying the practice, just saying that, in the grand scheme of things, it’s not a real big deal.
In an ideal world, I’d rather that $1.8 million be spent on students in high-need schools. In Delaware, if the funds were reallocated, chances are it would become a subsidy to the casino operators.
Well, I hate to be the one to say it but I’ve paid school taxes my whole adult life but had to pay for private school to get my kids a decent education where they weren’t tortured by bullies. Public education in Delaware sucks no matter how much we pay! So, yeah, I would happily take whatever the state was going to give me out of the money I gave them for doing a piss poor job!
Lots of hostility toward public schools. Not going to deny some issues, but lots of success stories and a better society and democracy due to a better educated populace. This subsidy is crap; private schools should be paid for privately, period. It is the choice of the individual and family to attend.
This subsidy is a distraction and does not need to be considered at all, one should note, especially when we can raise the top tiers of our marginal income tax rates, and make up far, far more than the amount saved by reimbursing this select group…
In fact, its sole purpose appears to distract us away from clamoring for increased higher taxes on the one percent… Once again, the middle class is being asked to chip in more, so the top class, the very top class, won’t have to.
Some people work extra jobs and barely scrape by in order to send their kids to private schools. That’s money that the state doesn’t have to spend on that student. Plus the parents pay the school tax on top of that. Thats’s big savings for the state.
Why shouldn’t they receive a little extra help for transportation? Maybe a tax credit would be the answer.
I believe private school tuition and fees are already tax deductible. While not a tax credit, it is already “a little extra help.”
“I believe private school tuition and fees are already tax deductible.”
No, they aren’t.
My kid goes to public school and no one gave me a subsidy to drive him back and forth to school every damn day for 9 years because I choiced him into different schools within the same district. Why are we subsidizing private school parents? If you want to send your kid to private school, pony up your own cash and your own transportation.