Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
When it gets right down to the nitty of the gritty, the majority of folks who want a voucher system don't really give a damn about failing schools and undereducated kids. They resent the fact that there is an increasing ease of mobility from urban to suburban public schools. And the most effective way--at least in some of their minds--to stem this influx, is to essentially empty the bank of public school funding, and feed it to the private school sector where--among other things--they are freer to control admissions.
Now, it would be intellectually dishonest to suggest that there are some kids who migrate from urban to suburban, and bring down the educational curve because they're not prepared, motivated, etc. There are also some kids who bring disruptive and inappropriate behavior to suburban public schools. That can't and shouldn't be denied. The reality, though, is that there are suburban kids who are equally ill-prepared, and who are disruptive and inappropriate in their behavior. The solution to unprepared and disruptive kids is NOT to break the bank of the public school system. It is to reform it by, among other things, using the funds wisely. Instead of discarding kids, we ought to be discarding ineffective teachers and administrators. Hold more parents accountable for their kids' education. For an example of reform-minded solutions, look no further than Michelle Rhee who is the D.C. Chancellor of Schools. In her short time in that position, she's making incredible strides in removing problem students, ineffective educators, and disinterested parents. She's loved and hated. And I suppose, it has to be that way for a while.
So ... this voucher argument, at the end of the day, is simply a whole lotta noise by people who no longer have the power and privilege to isolate, separate and exclude. The irony is that many of them don't have kids in school anyway.
I noticed you really like to argue. Do you actually talk to people or just sit around looking up random "facts" on the internet so you can argue with people? Your arguments are so generalized on Public Education they are IRRELEVANT!
Generalized? Have you seen the following chart? Not one single state listed has educated even 50% of their students to grade level proficiency. They've been fooling the public with their manipulated, dumbed down, easy to pass state NCLB tests. The truth comes out when you look at the state test vs. NAEP results. NAEP Researchcenter - NAEP and State Equivalent Percent Table
So ... this voucher argument, at the end of the day, is simply a whole lotta noise by people who no longer have the power and privilege to isolate, separate and exclude. The irony is that many of them don't have kids in school anyway.
You can choose to look at it that way, but the reality is that many people want school choice so that students, whatever their background, can choose to learn in the least restrictive environment. If public schools repeatedly refuse to make that possible, what other choice is there?
Sometimes I think the system of Give the Test, Select the Best, S-can the Rest has some merit. Schools are for teaching receptive minds. They are not a public babysitting service.
I believe that all schools, public and private, should have the ability to s-can the disruptive and let go the kids that cannot get past basic reading, writing and arithmetic. The big problem is sometimes the exceptional mind is s-canned because they have never been taught to take tests or do not know how to behave.
You can choose to look at it that way, but the reality is that many people want school choice so that students, whatever their background, can choose to learn in the least restrictive environment. If public schools repeatedly refuse to make that possible, what other choice is there?
Reality is also that many people want many kinds of choices. Some of those choices are expensive. And if you can't afford it, you can't choose it. That's America. That's life.
Reality is also that many people want many kinds of choices. Some of those choices are expensive. And if you can't afford it, you can't choose it. That's America. That's life.
So, you're for preserving a socioeconomic elite class and against developing a class-blind and race-blind meritocracy, in regards to education in the U.S.?
So, you're for preserving a socioeconomic elite class and against developing a class-blind and race-blind meritocracy, in regards to education in the U.S.?
If we were talking about neighborhoods, housing patterns and the public schools attendant thereto ...
If we were talking about neighborhoods, housing patterns and the public schools attendant thereto ...
I could ask you the same obtuse question.
So, you don't see the connection between a class-blind, race-blind meritocratic value-added (in regards to learning) education system and how it would alleviate concerns you raise above?
So, you don't see the connection between a class-blind, race-blind meritocratic value-added (in regards to learning) education system and how it would alleviate concerns you raise above?
Thirty-nine years ago, I and three other children were the first to integrate an all-white suburban public school. Few of our classmates (or parents, educators or administrators for that matter) were all that interested in being class-blind, race-blind or meritocratic. So of course I see the value.
I went to a "better" public school on the taxpayers' dime, as did all the other White kids. Now, had your idea of vouchers been the order of the day, the goal posts of better education would have been continually moved. Why? Because those same adults who didn't want me and mine at their school would have fled to a private school--using my parents' tax money--where they would have had every right to exclude me.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
