For More Information:
NEA Communications: 202 822-7200

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 2, 1999

News Release

NEA President Bob Chase Comments On Gov. Bush's Voucher Plan

Washington, D.C. - Bob Chase, president of the 2.4 million-member National Education Association (NEA), issued the following statement in response to today's voucher proposal by George W. Bush:

"If Governor Bush wants to help every child, he ought to put forth serious proposals that do that. His voucher proposal is simply off the mark. Every child can learn, but children in disadvantaged schools need extra help, extra attention, and more resources to make the progress we know they can make.

"Public schools should be held accountable, and so should politicians. Governor Bush says he wants to invest in programs that work, but he's willing to waste millions of tax dollars on vouchers, which don't work. Instead, let's put our children in modern schools, with smaller classes and certified teachers, all of which will help improve these students' performance. For example, in Milwaukee, students in the SAGE class size reduction program are strongly outperforming the city's voucher students in both reading and math - and SAGE costs less than vouchers.

"Governor Bush's proposal to withdraw funding from struggling schools and use it on vouchers is out of touch with the American people. Just last month, the annual Gallup Poll on education found that three-quarters of Americans would rather improve their public schools than provide vouchers for private and religious schools.

"For a fraction of the cost of a voucher, we can put struggling students in smaller classes, where all of them - not a select few - will learn to read, write, and compute at higher levels."

# # #
The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing more than 2.7 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support personnel, school administrators, retired educators, and students preparing to become teachers.