Press Release

For Immediate Release, January 22, 2004
Contact: Gabriela Lemus, 202-833-6130

Washington, DC – The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is disappointed with the recent Omnibus bill that includes federal school vouchers for the D.C. area. Although the residents of the District of Columbia have resoundingly denounced vouchers, the Omnibus Bill contains a voucher school initiative that would allow for a limited number of students to apply for vouchers as a means of financing a private school education, a step that LULAC opposes because it would be detrimental to D.C. schools. 

 Already, DC schools are poorly funded and many of its schools are in dire need of new facilities, textbooks, and teachers. The voucher initiative will potentially divert scarce resources to private schools that charge tuition rates of up to $15,000 per year.  Instead of enabling a quality education for all students, the D.C. public schools face losing already challenged resources. 

“LULAC strongly opposes any and all such measures on the basis that a voucher program would end up hurting D.C. schools more than advancing the educational system of our children. We strongly favor the advancement of the Hispanic community through educational means, but we do not and cannot favor a voucher school program because they do not work with the specific needs of the Hispanic community. In short, they are not at as all-encompassing as its proponents have asserted them to be,” said Brent Wilkes, LULAC National Executive Director.  

Voucher programs have been less than successful in many states, like Ohio and Florida.  “We do don’t want D.C. to be led in the same direction,” said Dr. Gabriela D. Lemus, LULAC Director of Policy and Legislation.  “In states that have approved vouchers, there is little evidence that they have worked to benefit anyone other than the pockets of private school directors and staff.” The voucher programs in those states have cost so much money to launch, that public schools in the area have been depleted of nearly all of their resources.  “The situation would be different if we felt that the voucher program, despite its costs, might come to benefit those students most in need,” Lemus added. 

                As private institutions, voucher schools are exempted from nearly all responsibilities that are set forth in the public education system. For example, private schools would not have to adapt to, nor comply with students with disabilities, nor would they be forced to work with non-English proficiency students who might benefit vastly from supplemental programs.  Private schools would not have to enforce assessment testing for its students, nor would they be made to turn out academic data on the progress of its students, thus giving no clear account as to whether or not the voucher program is actually working.   Also, we must take into consideration the issues of gender and religion which have caused many students to be suspended or expelled because of their sexual orientation or for not falling in line with the religious beliefs of the private school.  Under any other such circumstances, these situations would be considered illegal, discriminatory acts punishable by law but in the case of private schools there is no such accountability.  LULAC strongly encourages Congress to reconsider the needs of D.C. public schools by increasing scarce resources and not by taking them away.

The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the oldest and largest Latino civil rights organization in the United States.  LULAC advances the economic condition, educational attainment, political influence, health, and civil rights of Hispanic Americans through community-based programs operating at more than 700 LULAC councils nationwide.

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