School Choice Backers Rebranding Vouchers To Sidestep Controversy

The Washington Times (11/1, Wolfgang, 77K) reports that legislation expanding school voucher programs is moving through state legislatures in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and other states, though the term "voucher" has been left out, noting that "the very mention of the term stirs emotions and generates heated debate in the public education arena." Noting that terms like "scholarship" have supplanted "voucher" in these bills, the times reports that the "rebranding of vouchers, specialists say, is intentional and designed to keep the public's mind open." In exploring the history of controversy surrounding the concept, the Times notes that Education Secretary Arne Duncan is among critics who have "painted such programs as the enemy of public education, an unfair scheme that diverts money from struggling districts and gives it to religious schools or other private institutions."