Former Education Secretary and school choice movement leader Betsy DeVos is supporting a petition to bypass Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s veto of a tax-credit voucher program in the state, Chalkbeat Detroit reported. DeVos and family members have contributed over $400,000 to the petition-sponsoring group Let MI Kids Learn, which has received more than $1.7 million since it was launched last November, according to Chalkbeat.
The petition must collect 340,000 signatures—8 percent of the voter turnout from the last gubernatorial election—for the vetoed bill to be returned to the Republican-controlled state House and Senate, where it could then be made law without Whitmer’s signature, Chalkbeat reported.
The Opportunity Scholarship program would provide vouchers of up to $7,830 a year to eligible students, whose family income must be less than double the eligibility limits for free and reduced-price lunch programs, according to Chalkbeat. The vouchers are funded by taxpayer donations, and the legislation allows up to $500 million in tax credits in the program’s first year, The Wall Street Journal reported. The program—outlined in two bills each in the Republican-controlled state House and Senate—was approved by both houses in late October with no votes from Democrats, according to the Journal.
DeVos supported the petition in a Facebook Live event, calling it “a chance to help students in every corner of Michigan access the very best educational options for them” and “a mechanism for individuals to redirect a portion of their tax bill, whether individual or corporate, to directly help students that need the help the most,” Chalkbeat reported.
Opponents of the bill cite the estimated $50 million a year in taxes that would be diverted from public schools if the tax credit is made law. Opponents also cite a 1970 amendment to the Michigan constitution that prohibits public funding of private schools, according to Chalkbeat. This amendment constitutes an updated version of the state's so-called Blaine amendment, barring state funding of religious schooling.
Across the country, 37 states have such amendments to their constitutions. DeVos said that she expects Blaine amendments to be unenforceable after a forthcoming U.S. Supreme Court decision in Carson v. Makin, which challenges a similar amendment to Maine’s constitution barring public funding of religious schools.
The proposed vouchers would not be limited to funding tuition at private schools. "Public school students in special education programs could receive up to $1,100 per year," reported Chalkbeat, "and other public school students could receive up to $500."
In language similar to Milton Friedman's description in 1973 of schools as grocery stores, DeVos pushed for a broader understanding of educational spending. “There’s a lot of sneakers you can customize," DeVos said, according to Chalkbeat. "If you can customize sneakers, why couldn’t and shouldn’t you be able to customize your child’s education?”
- Andrew Thomas, Research Associate, NCSPE