Private school voucher program (Indianapolis, Gary: renting, home, neighborhoods)

[weverjames]

Are you ok with the voucher program for private schools as it is know?
Anyone thinks that it should be available for every family regardless of income levels?
It may be seen as unfair for those who pay for private education working hard every day to have their taxes increased and destinated to support a benefit they can not take advantage from?

I think it should be open to all families that pay taxes regardless of income levels. Having the public schools to compete for the tax payers money may rise the quality of education, though. What is your opinion?

[msamhunter]

No, I do not agree with it. It will not raise the value of education. If a parent doesn't stay on their child in public school and doesn't care, they won't care in private schools where they still do not pay. There's nothing wrong with a public school education. It's the schools in which the parents do not value education which tends to be well your poorer neighborhoods.

[Broadrippleguy]

Originally Posted by msamhunter

No, I do not agree with it. It will not raise the value of education. If a parent doesn't stay on their child in public school and doesn't care, they won't care in private schools where they still do not pay. There's nothing wrong with a public school education. It's the schools in which the parents do not value education which tends to be well your poorer neighborhoods.

Yes and no. I agree with what you said however Vouchers are needed in bad school environments like Indianapolis Public Schools and Gary Public Schools etc.

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by Broadrippleguy

Yes and no. I agree with what you said however Vouchers are needed in bad school environments like Indianapolis Public Schools and Gary Public Schools etc.

There are quite a few excellent charter schools in the IPS district. All of them free.

[msamhunter]

Public schools are nothing more than free standing buildings. They do not go out and cause trouble, look for trouble or make bad things happen. It's the people from outside that go into the building that causes that. So send them to a public school, catholic school, private school, the results will be the same if that child/parent does not put a value on education. Only in our nations inner-cities is it frowned upon the value of an education and to better oneself. You have a generation of parents who are apathetic, feel stuck and passing that same logic down to their children and so on and so on. It's the crab effect. Those same parents, had parents/grand parents who fought, got hosed, mauled by police dogs, strung up to make sure their children had an opportunity to go further than they did. That is a disgrace to their legacy.

[Pee]

I have had a child in both environments.

IMO, the environment and who (teachers/friends) the child surrounds himself with that will influence direction.

Since leaving private school I think my child's self confidence has grown.

I don't think anyone should be allowed to attend private schools. If it was available to everyone and the fees absorbed, the quality of education would not exist.

It was a hard decision to remove our child from private education. What was morally and ethically right was hard to see through the muddy situation.

Some public school systems are just teaching the test or set up for failure from the start.

Education that is reinforced steadfastly at home will endure.

[weverjames]

can you explain more the reasons why you think private schools are not a good choice? I am interested as I will have to make this decision in the coming years. I have been reluctan to migrate to suburbs because I would like my children to be exposed to diversity. Being us from a minority population group, I think being in a diverse environment is the way to go and you do not find that diversity outside of the ring marion county (MC). The caveat is that schools in MC are not well ranked compared to suburban schools. May this be an exaggeration from people that fears or have diversity and prefer a more homogeneus enviroment or if there is a real significant problem with schools in MC is a big question mark. Then if staying inside "the ring" of MC, are private schools necessary for your kids to be in a SAFE and challenging enviroment for learning and thrive?

[grmasterb]

Originally Posted by weverjames

The caveat is that schools in MC are not well ranked compared to suburban schools. May this be an exaggeration from people that fears or have diversity and prefer a more homogeneus enviroment or if there is a real significant problem with schools in MC is a big question mark. Then if staying inside "the ring" of MC, are private schools necessary for your kids to be in a SAFE and challenging enviroment for learning and thrive?

I reside in the Hamilton Southeastern school district, but I have a son from my previous marriage who attends middle school in Lawrence Township. I see no reason why a child can't find a safe and challenging environment in one of the township school districts in Marion County. That said, as a parent you simply have to know what works for your child. In terms of diversity, African-Americans, of course, comprise the largest minority group in Marion County. In Lawrence, many of those African-American children come from less desirable areas of the city, and those problems are sometimes brought into the school. Can your children block those distractions, avoid the bad apples and focus on what they need to do to succeed? Many can. Some can't despite the best efforts of good parenting. So, no, I don't think private schooling in Marion County is a must, but only you can know what would work best for your children.

[Pee]

For me, Weverjames?- If so,

We earned good wages but were not top wage earners. We are hard working people who had to work a little harder and longer to be able to afford the luxury of the private experience.

Parents are expected to volunteer at the school on a very regular basis. This may be fine for the stay-at-home parent. However, having to work all the more hours to afford private school- this was very hard for us and many times we were unable to be there to volunteer during school hours.

I'm sure it's not hard to guess that there IS an inner circle of parents. They will be nice to you but unless you do all they do or more, there will be no welcome mat for you.

I've found that only a handful of the parents were willing to stand against administration- when they knew things were amiss. Seems most parents were not willing to risk their social status...there was always a concern of social status.

Despite all of the above, all of us held education to high standards and it showed in our scoring.

I love uniforms for equality and easier school shopping too

I have family who has children in an indy charter school and they speak highly of it.

Have you checked into online school? IMO, you would then need to enroll a child in something to socially stimulate.

I will probably make some mad when I say it, but education has taken a back seat to sports/activities. If we could focus on education, our kids would focus on education. Simplicity.

I can't tell you about the inside ring of MC, but even outside that ring there IS diversity among private schools and I never once noticed any discrimination.