KINDER'S COMMENTARY: EDUCATIONAL FREEDOM IS WORKING

As described here on many occasions, the battle for full parental freedom in education continues across America. In the Missouri General Assembly, those of us fighting to extend to parents of poor and middle-income children the same choices wealthy parents have always had -- to send their children to the school of their choice without financial penalty -- have our plow stuck in some hard ground. We watch, enviously, as the first major breakthroughs in full parental choice in education have occurred with inner-city pilot programs in the states of Wisconsin (Milwaukee) and Ohio (Cleveland).

Still, despite overwhelming odds, outmanned and underfunded, we persevere in trying to enact the one reform opposed overwhelmingly by the entrenched public education establishment. It helps, in understanding the fierceness of the opposition, to note that this is the one reform that empowers parents -- not bureaucrats. As this battle continues, inspiration comes from an outstanding example of private initiative. A new organization is demonstrating the superiority of the parental freedom model over the monopoly public school system, with its crazy theories, its arrogant bureaucrats and its unresponsive leadership. I speak of a courageous and spunky little organization called CEO America.

The letters CEO stand for Children's Educational Opportunity and denote the tax-exempt foundation established just last year. CEO America is headquartered in Bentonville, Ark., and is funded by a major donation from John Walton of the Wal-Mart stores family. Others on its board of directors include J. Patrick Rooney, chairman of Golden Rule Insurance, and an executive of Tele-Communications Corp. CEO America raises private donations to provide scholarships for low-income, inner-city parents to escape the public school monopoly and send their children to a school where they can learn, whether it be public, private or parochial.

Since Rooney began the private voucher movement in Indianapolis just four years ago, these leaders have helped 8,000 low-income students in 22 cities to escape the hellholes in which government has trapped them. The foundation has established more than $11 million in private scholarships ranging from a low of $66 to a high of $3,000 per year. In most cases a family co-payment is expected. Private schools involved are Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, denominational and non-denominational Christian as well as non-sectarian. Schools involved for the most part have modest tuitions, with the average tuition in each ranging from $1,200 to $3,200. Minorities, especially blacks and Hispanics, are participating most heavily. All families are low-income, usually defined with reference to the federal school lunch program. Many are headed by single mothers.

Interestingly, the goal of CEO America pioneers is to someday go out of business when laws in state after state obviate the need for such private funding. While as a tax-exempt outfit they aren't pushing for such laws to enact government-funded scholarships, their example is nonetheless crucial.

Dr. Maureen Wahl is a researcher and director of research for Family Service America who has studied parental choice three years in a row. She reports: "FSA data indicate that when parents choose a school for their child they enter into a partnership with the school and become involved in the activities of the school. When parents are involved, children do better in school as well as attend better schools." Moreover, confirming what common sense would never have doubted, Dr. Wahl says, "When researchers began investigating educational outcomes instead of process, they learned that the family had a stronger influence on achievement than did schools. Some have interpreted these findings to absolve educators from responsibility for school failures. Recent studies, however, point to a different conclusion. Educators are more effective with all children when they build strong family-school-community partnerships."

Who would ever have doubted this? There is, inherent in the act of making a free choice, a moral component: the act of choosing in a competitive market implies that the parent making it places trust and confidence in those chosen to educate his or her children. Of course such a parent is likely to become more involved in the forging of such partnerships.

All hail J. Patrick Rooney, John Walton and the CEO America Foundation for showing us the way to parental freedom in education:

CEO America Foundation

P.O. Box 1543

Bentonville, AR 72712-1543

(501) 273-6957

INTERNET: CEOA@aol.com

~Peter Kinder is the associate publisher of the Southeast Missourian and a state senator from Cape Girardeau.