Senator Huffines tantrum against h.s. students

[Cheesesteak Cravings]

Out with Huffines!

[Annikan]

Vote him out. That's ridiculous. And that student had a great point that has never been addressed by anyone advocating for "school choice". How does school choice vouchers help those lowest-income students who are currently behind academically, according to standardized tests? The vouchers aren't enough to get them to a truly great school, and it doesn't address the issue of how these economically disadvantaged families would get their kids to/from these school on the other side of the city to that they might go to if they have "choice". The reality is, this voucher program as it stands is only going to help the already highly motivated families who have the finances now to get their kids in private school or drive them to/from a school an hour away. The average lower income person working a low paid hourly job can't do either of these things, because they have no job flexibility and no extra finances to cover the rest of the cost of a private school. So again, low income students will be in their closest local school, and the upper middle and upper class will now have extra government money to defray the cost of their choice to send their kids to private.

And now, any kook with any crazy religious agenda can homeschool their kids with government money with no standards---Scientology homeschool anyone? Radical islam religious school paid for by the government anyone? Perhaps special whites only private school paid for by government money, all under the guise of "free choice"? Meanwhile the lower income people are still stuck in their local schools that now have ONLY low income students, since everyone else has taken their choice money and gone elsewhere, thereby making test scores even worse. At which point, public school teachers will be blamed for low test scores. And then things well get even worse.

I just don't get it. Hasn't anyone ever been to a place like India, where children are out on the street begging? You want to eat at a restaurant and street kids will be banging on the restaurant windows begging for food...no one can enjoy a meal when being faced with starving children. But that's the kind of society we will have when we continue to create this underclass of people who have been abandoned by the rest of society. School choice is a misnomer...it's a choice only for the already economically stable. The lower class will fall further and further behind.

[jdallas]

His term ends in 2019. By then, this will long be forgotten.

[Aggielina]

I won't forget. I look forward to my second chance to vote against him.

[BLDSoon]

Originally Posted by Annikan

Vote him out. That's ridiculous. And that student had a great point that has never been addressed by anyone advocating for "school choice". How does school choice vouchers help those lowest-income students who are currently behind academically, according to standardized tests? The vouchers aren't enough to get them to a truly great school, and it doesn't address the issue of how these economically disadvantaged families would get their kids to/from these school on the other side of the city to that they might go to if they have "choice". The reality is, this voucher program as it stands is only going to help the already highly motivated families who have the finances now to get their kids in private school or drive them to/from a school an hour away. The average lower income person working a low paid hourly job can't do either of these things, because they have no job flexibility and no extra finances to cover the rest of the cost of a private school. So again, low income students will be in their closest local school, and the upper middle and upper class will now have extra government money to defray the cost of their choice to send their kids to private.

And now, any kook with any crazy religious agenda can homeschool their kids with government money with no standards---Scientology homeschool anyone? Radical islam religious school paid for by the government anyone? Perhaps special whites only private school paid for by government money, all under the guise of "free choice"? Meanwhile the lower income people are still stuck in their local schools that now have ONLY low income students, since everyone else has taken their choice money and gone elsewhere, thereby making test scores even worse. At which point, public school teachers will be blamed for low test scores. And then things well get even worse.

I just don't get it. Hasn't anyone ever been to a place like India, where children are out on the street begging? You want to eat at a restaurant and street kids will be banging on the restaurant windows begging for food...no one can enjoy a meal when being faced with starving children. But that's the kind of society we will have when we continue to create this underclass of people who have been abandoned by the rest of society. School choice is a misnomer...it's a choice only for the already economically stable. The lower class will fall further and further behind.

What makes you think that school choice advocates want lower income kids in 'truly great schools'?
People are paying 30k a year to avoid having their children in school with 'lower income kids'. Powerful people. People with lots of money. People that run and own charter schools.

Do you think for one second they actually WANT 'those' kids at Hockaday and St Marks? I can just imagine the furor....

No, when they say school choice they mean, newly created, for profit, not really going anywhere local private schools and charters that will make some people a lot of money. Some kids might even benefit in the process. They don't mean having THOSE kids in THEIR schools, oh God no...

Private schools admit very few of those kids and those few are vetted to the nth degree. They understand they need some of those kids to meet a diversity quota but make no mistake, private schools will fight that voucher nonesense the only way they know how. Rigorous Admissions.

Thanks to my parents i grew up for many years in a 3rd world country living among those kids you mention. 3rd world countries have school choice. You choose the school you can afford. Anyone that thinks that is a viable way forward for american education is either woefully misinformed or has another rather concerning agenda.

[karenw729]

Originally Posted by BLDSoon

What makes you think that school choice advocates want lower income kids in 'truly great schools'?
People are paying 30k a year to avoid having their children in school with 'lower income kids'. Powerful people. People with lots of money. People that run and own charter schools.

Do you think for one second they actually WANT 'those' kids at Hockaday and St Marks? I can just imagine the furor....

No, when they say school choice they mean, newly created, for profit, not really going anywhere local private schools and charters that will make some people a lot of money. Some kids might even benefit in the process. They don't mean having THOSE kids in THEIR schools, oh God no...

Private schools admit very few of those kids and those few are vetted to the nth degree. They understand they need some of those kids to meet a diversity quota but make no mistake, private schools will fight that voucher nonesense the only way they know how. Rigorous Admissions.

Thanks to my parents i grew up for many years in a 3rd world country living among those kids you mention. 3rd world countries have school choice. You choose the school you can afford. Anyone that thinks that is a viable way forward for american education is either woefully misinformed or has another rather concerning agenda.

It's never been the intention to get these voucher kids into St. Marks or Hockaday, and Huffines knows that. If this program goes through, we'll see a bunch of new private schools open up. They'll take any kid with a voucher. They won't be held to the same academic standards as public schools, so no worries about success rates. It's all about getting rich off tax payer money.

A bunch of them will be Christian schools because this a prime opportunity for them to indoctrinate them while they're young. Our new, unqualified Sec. of Education has been recorded saying her motive to get involved with schools is that it's a prime opportunity to "advance the kingdom." Theses new private schools will be free to teach Creationism and take field trips to the Noah's Ark museum where dinosaurs rode on the boat with humans.

[tassity22]

Originally Posted by BLDSoon

What makes you think that school choice advocates want lower income kids in 'truly great schools'?
People are paying 30k a year to avoid having their children in school with 'lower income kids'. Powerful people. People with lots of money. People that run and own charter schools.

Do you think for one second they actually WANT 'those' kids at Hockaday and St Marks? I can just imagine the furor....

No, when they say school choice they mean, newly created, for profit, not really going anywhere local private schools and charters that will make some people a lot of money. Some kids might even benefit in the process. They don't mean having THOSE kids in THEIR schools, oh God no....

These are the truest, most accurate statements that have been posted here. Senator Huffines even halfway admitted this (although he didn't come out and say it point blank). Rich people don't want middle class kids in Hockaday and St. Marks (the schools Huffines mentioned) or any of these other elite private schools. So the vouchers won't cover enough for middle class or poor parents to send their kids to private schools. And speaking from personal experience, I knew a guy who went to St. Marks in Dallas but he wasn't from a wealthy family, yet somehow his parents were able to send him there, but he was told all the time "you don't belong here" and "why don't you go somewhere else" by the other boys at the school. Rich people do resent middle class and poor people encroaching onto "their territory".


And once public schools are de-funded out of existence, many children will go without an education altogether. We are going to see a rise in street gangs and children living on the streets during the daytime while their parents go to work.