Dear Mr/Ms PTA President:

As I have clearly stated in my last two posts, vouchers are not the final answer to our public schools. If you had actually read what I wrote you would have known that. Secondly, I have done quite a lot of research on vouchers and contrary to the liberal (socialist) viewpoint, they will not help only the haves. If they did, a person who has very little like myself, would not be in favor of them. Thats a standard scare tactic that quite honestly doesnt work anymore. Vouchers will help a great deal of underpriveleged people to get to a school in which they are comfortable, safe, and thus learn much more. Third, I never said that all children who wanted to leave a failing school would choose to go to a private or charter school. Many would choose a different public school. But which school they decide to attend is neither my business or yours. It is their education. I'm assuming that you believe vouchers will cause many students to abandon the public school system. Is this correct? If so, why would they want to leave if everything is going so well at their school? Again... what are you afraid of? If their isn't a problem very few would leave. Many students (not all obviously) with disipline problems by the way, have those problems because they are unhappy with their present school. They either dislike their peers, their teachers, or the educational program they are forced into. Will private schools be allowed to disqualify some of these students under the current plan.... probably. That is why I would support a voucher program which forces strict guidelines of equal opportunity for students choosing to use public money for private schools. My final point has to back track to the core differences between you and me. That is personal responsibility. You obviously believe that no one is accountable for their actions. Everything is environmentally ordered, and we as a "wealthy" nation have a duty to help those who are less fortunate. We can therefore make everyone totally equal and lower our expectations to achieve it. That's not how life works. Certainly not in the natural world. It is an individuals freedom to suceed or fail. Our job is to make it easier to take that responsibility not provide a set of governmental diapers from birth to death! I have a heart and so do the people who agree with me on the voucher issue. We care very much about all students not just the wealthy like you would have your peers believe. I and supporters of vouchers do want to help, we simply propose an alterantive solution. A solution that will work if given the chance. So, if your not willing to give it a chance, maybe it is the PTA and the teachers unions who should politely get out of the way.

All children have the right to choose their education!

raptorman88- you brought up some very interesting points! So let me ask you this; Are vouchers going to give those kids in single parent homes a second live-in parent? Are they going to move those low income or inner city kids into better homes, apartments, etc. than the ones they are living in now? Are they going to give the parents of those students good jobs so that they can get off welfare (if they're on it), get a better place to live, put food on the table, buy them clothes and shoes and pay for heaat? Are vouchers going to clean up the crime in their neighborhoods? Are vouchers going to get they're parent/s off drugs? Make them care or get involved in they're child's life? Are vouchers going to make parents discipline unruly children or make parents get professional help for the one's who need it? Are you getting the point yet?? Vouchers COULD put children in a better school but they CAN'T change the socio-economic bachground from which they come. And if you do any research on learning at all, you should know that that the socio-economic status of a student is one of the highest determining factors of a child's education and how they learn. And if you have done any research on vouchers at all, you would know that in districts where they are available, most of the students who use them and succeed in that new school, are, the same students who would have succeeded at their old school! But let's use your assumption for a minute, that if all children use vouchers and go to charter or private schools, it will force all those "bad" public schools to close. Tell me then, since charter and private schools DO NOT have to follow the same governmental guidelines as public schools (even though they are and would be using tax money), then where will the child that is a discipline problem and gets kicked out, has a learning or physical disability (and therefore is too much work and dips too far into the PROFITS)go? Vouchers are only going to help the HAVES who HAVE already, and NOT the HAVE NOTS!
I know that not all teachers are good teachers, but the majority of them are! But they're tired and frustrated just like the rest of us! Teachers don't just have to teach anymore, they have to be social workers, therapists, parents, dieticians, disciplinarians, nurses, referees,and the list goes on and on! Pulling funding away from public schools is not the answer. We should be working cooperatively with them, not against them! We should not be picking and choosing which children "should" or "deserve" to get an education, I thought after all, that we were in America, the land of equal opportunity, where ALL children have the right to an education!
Let me end with this quote from Richard W. Riley, US Secretary of Education:
". . .today I say to the nonstop critics of our nation's public schools; If you see something that's wrong, please have the heart to fix it. But if you don't want to help, please let the PTA and the rest of us work together to improve things!"
And that is what I intend to do!

With all due respect Marion, helping the "schools" and helping the children are not always the same thing. They should be... I'll freely admit that. But it's not always the case.What are some of the reasons the "really struggling schools" in the inner city are failing? Crime, Drugs, Single parent homes, lack of disipline, lack of motivation, lack of qualified teachers, tenure and difficulty firing teachers due to union involvement, poor environments, lack of economicic opportunity, Lack of qualified and concerned guidance councilors,dependance upon property taxes for funding, etc. Its a multicausal complex reason for their failure. Not a single issue. What vouchers will do is place the responsibility of education in the hands of the parents and students who either decide to stay or leave. It will force parents and teachers to become more involved in the decision making process. It will also place free market pressures on schools to improve the quality of education that they provide. If they do not improve, the schools will be shut down or their administration staff will be let go. In several states, failing schools have been taken over by state approved management teams and have shown very good results. Though state governments are very hesistant to take over a local public school. A combination of greater state and federal involvement and vouchers will improve these failing schools, but certainly not solve all the problems of the inner city. Another thing it will allow is providing an educational net which is more diverse. Some parents and students believe in a strict RRR educational program. Some students learn better in a more artistically or sports oriented school. Some believe in strict disipline. Some in a more liberal view. Every child learns differently, and at differnt rates. Why force them all to learn the same things under the same watered down format. Choice embraces diversity not prevents it.
Are their enough "private schools" to take the hoards of students unhappy with their present situation? No. Unfortuantely. However, sucessful voucher program experiments will introduce free market pressures, showing private educational groups that their will be a need. If their is a need for more private schools as a result of vouchers, more schools will be built. I'm not 100% sure , however I believe the Americans with disabilities act would prevent private schools from excluding someone on that basis.
"The country is far too wealthy"... Not sure I agree with that statement, and could point to several countries which are not as "wealthy" as the USa, but have much tougher schools, and better educated students. They expect far more from their students then we do and they certainly do not encourage uniformity.

I don't think vouchers will help the really struggling schools. Take New York City, for example. By all accounts most of the schools are seriously failing their students. There are how many thousands (or is it hundreds of thousands) of students in these schools. Are there enough private schools to accept all of these students or will a lot of them be stuck in the failing schools while the government says "we gave vouchers, we've helped the schools." Will the private schools be required to accept special needs students that use up a lot of public school funding? Will they be required to accept the problem children that public schools are stuck with, or will they continue to expel these children back to public schools? This country is far too wealthy to offer a solution which will help a limited number of students while leaving those with the greatest need behind.

Marion

The question we must ask ourselves is whether we should continue to stay the course and do nothing (continuously throwing money into the schools that aren't working), or offer some students/parents a way out of unfortunate situations presently beyond their control. For me, I must side with a failing child over a teacher's union any day of the week.

A short time back, I was studying to be a teacher. I had an opportunity to observe over 30 classrooms over a two week period. Of the 30 teachers I directly observed only 5, in my opinion, were doing a stellar job. 10 would have been fired by me on the spot (if I had the power of course)for a variety of reasons all of which infuriated and disgusted me. The children in those 10 classes were obviously struggling, unhappy, unmotivated, fighting each other and the teacher. Giving these children the right to choose their education ( where they are not stigmatized, or preclassified, more comfortable, and feel safe) making it self determining, instead of forcing it down their throats is a much better way to motivate and educate our children. In a sence, vouchers gives certain students a fresh start. Are vouchers the final answer... certainly not. In their current proposed form will they help every child who wants to escape a failing school... not by a long shot. But, they are a good start. Ask yourself this.... what are the teachers unions really afraid of? All their kids will want to leave and go someplace else... reducing their funding? If that is the case it is clearly an admission of guilt. We can do better and vouchers will help.

Chrystal- please do a little research into this matter. Marion is right, the money is not going to help you or any other child who is not already in a private school for the simple reason that many private schools, inluding Catholic schools, have already come out and said that they would raise their tuitions in order to get more funding for the school. This means that vouchers would not relieve some of the financial burden to those already paying tuition or to those who would wish to use it to be able to afford private school.
Friend- you're right on!
Gifford- I can't think of a more worth while "political" agenda to fight for,than the rights of my children, or those children who don't have anyone else to fight for them!