91直播

Although he鈥檚 made headlines recently for controversial comments not directly about schools, Republican Rep. Steve King of Iowa has also made waves for introducing a bill that would dramatically reshape K-12 and education policy. That鈥檚 House Resolution 610, and it would create federally backed vouchers for students.

earlier this year. , the in-plain-English name of the bill, would repeal the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the main K-12 law, of which the Every Student Succeeds Act is the latest version. It would create vouchers funded by Washington for parents to use at private schools if they chose to do so, or to use for home schooling their child. Under King鈥檚 legislation, the federal government would fund those vouchers through creating block grants for states.

鈥淎s the spouse of a former Iowa teacher, I understand that it鈥檚 the right thing for our children to take their education decision[s] out of the hands of the federal government and put it back in the hands of parents who know how best to meet the educational needs of their students,鈥� King said in a statement last year about .

In addition, King鈥檚 bill would overturn nutritional standards published in 2012 for the national school lunch and school breakfast programs.

School Leaders Zero In on Bill

鈥淭his is hands-down the number one bill I鈥檓 getting emails about from my members,鈥� said Noelle Ellerson Ng, the associate executive director of AASA, the School Superintendents Association, which represents 13,000 district leaders. Ng also told us Monday that it was one of the biggest topics of conversation when she met with school administrators at the group鈥檚 recent conference in New Orleans.

We reached out to King鈥檚 office to ask him more about the bill, and we鈥檒l update this post if we hear back.

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has been a supporter of vouchers for many years. And President Donald Trump has backed the concept of vouchers in remarks both before and after his election last year, although we don鈥檛 know if that鈥檚 the form of school choice the Trump administration will throw its weight behind. Their combined presence in Washington, however, has possibly fueled interest in this legislation.

Here are several things to keep in mind about King鈥檚 bill:

1. Many, if not the vast majority of, GOP lawmakers are big fans of school choice, including Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., the Senate education committee chairman. However, King鈥檚 bill to substitute a federal voucher program for the ESEA likely won鈥檛 sit well with many Republican members of Congress. In fact, in 2015, the Senate rejected Alexander鈥檚 proposed amendment to ESSA that would have instituted a voucher program. And the Senate now has more Democratic lawmakers than it did then. It鈥檚 unlikely any Democrat will vote to create nationwide, federal vouchers.
2. More on that previous point: Republican lawmakers representing predominantly rural states have expressed concerns about a federal voucher program, in part because they don鈥檛 feel private school choice will help many of the children back home. In fact, Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., touted DeVos鈥� promise not to 鈥渋mpose鈥� a national school choice program as one reason Fischer felt comfortable voting to confirm her as education secretary. (DeVos, of course, couldn鈥檛 institute a broad voucher program on her own鈥攕he鈥檇 need authorization from Congress first.)
3. As we mentioned above, King also introduced a version of this bill late last year. That bill didn鈥檛 really get traction.
4. King does not sit on the House education committee.
5. Even beyond school choice politics, the bill has a complicated path ahead. That鈥檚 because it also deals with federally supported school meal programs. But the congressional jurisdiction over those programs lies with the agriculture committees, not the education committees. So getting lawmakers in charge of agriculture issues to move the bill along is, obviously, more complicated than getting just top K-12 lawmakers to prioritize the legislation.
6. Absent procedural maneuvers from GOP lawmakers, a standalone voucher bill like the type King proposed likely would be subject to a filibuster in the Senate, potentially limiting its chances.

So how do choice advocates feel about the bill? We checked in with a prominent one, Thomas B. Fordham Institute President Michael Petrilli, who鈥檚 also a former U.S. Department of Education official. We asked Petrilli whether he 1) would support the bill, 2) thinks it has a chance of passing Congress, and 3) supports repealing the ESEA in particular, as the bill proposes to do. Here are his responses in their entirety:

1) No

2) .000000001%

3) No

Another potential vehicle for Congress to expand school choice is through tax-credit scholarships. . And in a separate post, we analyzed .

Jason Botel, a senior education adviser in the Trump administration, for up to 50 districts. But that pilot doesn鈥檛 appear to allow for money to be used on private school choice, and under the pilot districts control the flow of money.

Photo: Republican U.S. Rep. Steve King of Iowa addresses a meeting in Des Moines, Iowa. (Charlie Neibergall/AP-File)