TWO PHILANTHROPISTS TO EXPAND PRIVATE SCHOOL GRANTS IN CITIES

Mr. GINGRICH. Mr. Speaker, the attached article from The Washington Post illustrates the frustration across the country over the performance of public schools. Theodore J. Forstmann and John Walton are two of the latest in a series of philanthropists to put up their own money in an effort to send low-income students to private schools. I submit the article to the Congressional Record.

by (By Linda Perlstein)
[From the Washington Post]

Two wealthy industrialists announced plans yesterday to give 50,000 needy children scholarships that would allow them to abandon public schools in favor of private ones. The $200 million initiative, which would be the largest of its kind, is the latest in a series of efforts by private philanthropists frustrated with the performance of public education.

Wall Street financier Theodore J. Forstmann and Wal-Mart heir John Walton will put up $100 million of the money and will raise the rest from other philanthropists and community groups around the country. The two men say they have lined up $19.4 million in pledges in five cities, including Washington, and are seeking $80 million more by summer's end. Public schools are a monopoly, Forstmann said, ``monopolies produce bad products at high prices. Eventually, if there's no competition, nothing works very well.''

Attempts to use taxpayer dollars to send children to private schools have hit roadblocks both in Congress and in the courts. Last month, President Clinton, who opposes publicly funded vouchers, vetoed a bill that would have given District students $7 million to attend private schools.

As a result, donors are moving forward with projects. Last year, philanthropist Virginia Gilder offered $2,000 each for students at an Albany, N.Y., primary school to attend private school. In April, a group of San Antonio business leaders put up $50 million to send 13,000 low-income students to private schools.

The plans announced yesterday by Forstmann and Walton would expand a scholarship initiative the two contributed to last year in Washington and New York. Already, 1,000 District students are offered scholarships through the program. The new initiative, called the Children's Scholarship Fund, will finance 400 more.

In Washington and other cities where the two hope to start the program, $1,000 scholarships will be offered to elementary and high school students whose family income falls below a certain level--typically $18,000. They estimate that the money will cover about half of the annual tuition costs in most cities, with the children's parents committing to make up the balance. Students will be selected by lotteries in 1999.

In addition to Washington, the fund has lined up partners in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Jersey City, where Mayor Bret Schundler has chipped in $25,000 of his own money.

Forstmann's supporters include many who oppose publicly funded vouchers. A White House spokesman, Barry Toiv, said that President Clinton supports the effort but still firmly opposes using public money for school voucher programs.

``They are in a position to help kids, and the president thinks that's great,'' Toiv said. ``But the question of how we invest our public resources is an entirely different one. The president thinks that money has to remain in public education.''

Even the heads of the two largest teachers unions said they do not object to private citizens giving scholarships. ``I have no problem with what is basically a private act of philantropy,'' said Sandra Feldman, president of the American Federation of Teachers. But ``if the idea is that public schools don't work and children must escape, I would oppose that,'' she said.

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