Greetings,

The House version of the National Defense Authorizations Act for FY 2010 (H.R. 2647) currently includes a study program allowing private school vouchers for military children (sec. 535).  This month, conferees from the Senate and House Armed Services Committees are expected to negotiate the differences between their respective versions of the bill.  The proposed study would consider vouchers as an educational option for children from military families who attend public schools that are identified as in need of improvement under the No Child Left Behind Act.

CSBA is concerned that the design of the proposed study has serious flaws, and its findings could be skewed for the creation of private school vouchers for military children.  Research repeatedly shows that vouchers are ineffective in raising student achievement, including studies of the Washington, D.C., Milwaukee and Cleveland voucher programs.  Vouchers are NOT the answer to improving the academic performance of military children.

Members serving on the House Armed Services Committee from California include Representatives Loretta Sanchez, Buck McKeon, Susan Davis and Duncan Hunter. Please contact your U.S. Representative TODAY and urge him/her to oppose the private school voucher study in the House version of the bill, H.R. 2647.

CSBA Staff:  Erika Hoffman, Pr. Legislative Advocate (ehoffman@csba.org) or Marites Ares, Legislative Analyst (mares@csba.org)

Subject: Please oppose the private school voucher study!

Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here],

As a school board member and a constituent in your congressional district, I urge you to oppose the private school voucher study in the House version of the National Defense Authorizations Act for FY 2010 (H.R. 2647)(sec. 535). The proposed study would consider vouchers as an educational option for children from military families who attend public schools that are identified as in need of improvement under the No Child Left Behind Act. I am concerned that the design of the proposed study has serious flaws, and its findings could be skewed for the creation of private school vouchers for military children. Instead, I urge you to support the Senate version, which does not include this program.

Research repeatedly shows that vouchers are ineffective in raising student achievement, including studies of the Washington, D.C., Milwaukee and Cleveland voucher programs. Vouchers are not the answer to improving the academic performance of military children.

Thank you for your attention to my concern.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

cc:
NSBA Manager Kathleen Branch