Listening The The School Voucher Debate On Washington Journal

[ThomWV]

I have been listening to callers into the Washington Journal program this morning. The subject is education and much of the discussion relates to school vouchers and the value of private vs. public education.

Here's an observation. Many of the callers are telling stories of how their schools failed their children. Not one caller has said that it was their child that failed - its always the schools that have failed. One or two educators hinted that children arrive from their homes totally unprepared to attend but no parent said they sent their child off that way. Now how can that be? Is there something in the air that sucks all the careful home preparation right out of the child somewhere between home's door and the school grounds?

It also boggles the mind to understand how a taxing authority (school district) can afford to send out vouchers but can not afford to fund its own school system or how adding another layer of bureaucracy (the voucher system) to an already ailing education system will improve its efficiency. Just the cost of mailing out the checks is money not available for the materials and services our local communities have to pay to educate our children.

That said I have to say that I am not at all against Private Schools or school vouchers - in fact there is 1 voucher system that I would support with all my heart and soul. Here it is: Place a 50% tax on the tuition cost for each student in every private school in the nation and take that money and turn it over to the public school systems.

[ulysses]

1. vouchers are a pretty-sounding band-aid

over a sucking chest wound. We now have vouchers in Georgia for kids in special education - except that, as was completely predictable, they don't cover more than about 10-20% of the average tuition at a private school, even if you get the full amount possible.

I really wish we could have this debate once and for all, so we could put the idiocy to bed...like your voucher plan, though. :D

[thunder rising]

2. Parents want to delegate the actual work of raising a child.

Since it is obviously true that the nation reflects the morals and values of the President (in the present case law breaking law makers, cronyism, immunity for crimes, law enforcement out of control) I think Barack Obama will bring a sense of family back to the Whitehouse and the nation. And, by example of how to be good parents, parents all over the country will simply be better parents.

[mediaman007]

3. Vouchers are DOA!

Chalk up vouchers, abortion, flag-burning, gun control and a host of other issues that corporate America uses to keep the masses at each others' throats.

There is only one issue: Shall the government work for the people or work for the corporations. Everything else is window dressing.

[TahitiNut]

4. American Pie

No matter when or where such 'discussion' takes place, I almost invariably hear the advocate for vouchers use the analogy of "pie" ... and slices. This is the mindset of greed ... covetousness.

We must make no mistake - the neoconservatives have made Public Education target #1 for decades if not longer. From Brown v. Board of Education to Standing in The Schoolhouse Door to Monkey Trials to Creationoism, those who would prevent the field hands from learning to read have been peddling their Defense of Ignorance since antebellum days.

The appalling notion that somehow a 'private' school is inherently superior can only be grounded in ignorance and greed. This is the Politics of Tonya Harding ... being "better" by knee-capping others.

[msongs]

5. vochers: fundie whities seperating their precious kids from the mongrel riff raff

is where the voucher movement came from. it has slowly expanded into other consitituencies but is still heavily fundie christian, because these people want only their religion taught in schools. in terms of student performance, the primary problem with voucher schools versus public schools is that public schools must accept everybody, where private voucher schools skim the 'cream", taking no problem kids, behavior problem kids, attitude problem kids, kids with attitude problem parents, special ed kids at all levels from learning disabilities to profoundly handicapped, and so on.

If our local school could kick out all the "problem" kids and only keep the ones that excel, its test scores would go up.
and funny thing, a lot of so called charter schools around here do not do much better on state tests than the regular schools.

Msongs

[flashl]

6. Creating and maintaining third world community environments will impact student preparedness.

And, it is the intent of this admin for public schools to fail. Why have an underfunded NCLB? The vouchers lay the gateway to intended goal, American schools privately own.