America's private schools are not safe from the risks resulting from Covid-19. In fact, without prompt the aid of The government, they may be among the institutions at greatest risk of succumbing towards the virus.
More than 100 private schools have announced that they will be closing their doors permanently, at least partly because of the pandemic. That number is sure to climb as families hard hit by the crisis make enrollment decisions for that fall, as schools face the prospect of reopening below capacity due to safety concerns, and as fears from the coronavirus still depress church attendance and therefore the regular contributions from parishioners that help sustain parochial schools.
It isn't the well-endowed private schools serving the one percent that face risk. Perhaps that's the reason the national media has paid so little focus on this crisis. Based on the CATO Institute, which is tracking private-school closures nationally, the average annual tuition charged at the schools which have announced that they will close is under $7,000-less than 1 / 2 of the typical per-pupil paying for public schools nationwide.
Widespread private-school closures pose problems not just for that students who attend them, but in addition for public-school budgets nationwide. Whatever one thinks of using government funds to grow school choice, there isn't any denying the nation's 5.7 million students who now attend private schools save money for taxpayers, who otherwise would need to pay to teach these children in public schools. The pro-school-choice American Federation for kids pegs the annual savings to convey and local governments at $75 billion.
Nearly Half a century ago, fears concerning the budget implications of private-school closures sparked a series of bipartisan efforts in Congress to provide relief with this sector. One such proposal-a tax credit for K -12 and higher-education tuition expenses-even passed home of Representatives in 1978. The measure's champion within the Senate was Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a Democrat from Ny. The heterodox coalition that backed the idea in a series of votes that August included former Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater of Arizona and Joe Biden, then Delaware's junior senator along with a product of Catholic schools.
The 1978 bill ultimately foundered in the Senate, owing partly to doubts concerning the constitutionality of utilizing federal funds to support families attending religious schools. The U.S. Supreme Court has long since laid that concern to rest. Its 2002 Zelman decision upheld state-funded vouchers for religious private schools, which term the court even ruled that state constitutions cannot be used to bar religious schools from participating in school-choice programs (see \”In Supreme Court Case, a Far-Reaching Win for Religious-School Parents,\” legal beat).
What's also changed because the 1970s may be the alignment of support for policies to sustain private-school choice. Like so many issues in American politics, that one has polarized sharply along party lines. Yes, current survey data reveal that school-choice proposals garner high amounts of support from Black and Hispanic voters-core Democratic constituencies. Today, however, it is hard to make a prominent Democrat like Moynihan leading a charge to supply help to private schools, even just in times of economic distress, or perhaps a Democratic backbench senator joining that cause. The truth that the Trump administration has made a federal tax credit to aid private-school scholarships its top education priority makes deviations from the party line all the more unlikely.
This political reality doesn't change the fact that private schools need relief now-and that failing to provide that relief would only aggravate the financial challenges facing all schools. As Kirabo Jackson and colleagues demonstrate within this issue (see \”The Costs of Cutting School Spending,\” research), policymakers and advocates possess a strong case for a new round of federal aid to support state and local education budgets. Cuts to school spending within the wake from the Great Recession helped cause the first nationwide decline in student test scores inside a half-century, in addition to a stop by the amount of new college students. As the virus is constantly on the spread, the extra expenses schools face in getting ready to reopen, whether in person or virtually, only strengthen that case.
Yet private schools face those self same expenses, and failing to support them is only going to heighten the challenges for public schools. A bill introduced on July 22 by Senators Tim Scott and Lamar Alexander provides a one-time appropriation of funds to state-based organizations that offer private-school scholarships. It might also produce a permanent federal tax credit for donations to those organizations. The second proposal appears like a heavy lift now, given the politics of the issue. But Republicans in the Senate may yet be able to use their leverage to make sure that America's private schools do not become another vulnerable population left exposed.
Martin West
