Why is the left against school choice?

Question

I don't understand. The left is for the little guy, right? Yet any attempt to allow parents vouchers or other means to get their children out of failing government schools always meets with opposition. Why?

I love the cynical, condescending attitude of people like Stephanie. Talk about a "let them eat cake" mentality.

Answer 1

Didn't you know - they don't like choice, independance, free thinking, innovation, entrepreneurship etc., etc., it frightens them - that's why in this world we never get beyond the status quo all the time.

I have to admit they are a little better on the Kindergarten Continent - they are willing to risk more over there - pig ignorance is their problem, but after a few more hundred years, they may become more sophisticated, but I hope they don't have as much power as they do now - China in the wings is a good sign I'd say to calm down their hysterical culture!

But never let that stop you and what you want to do - be a thorn in the side of those that worship the status quo, because the people that enhance and progress things in this world are people like you who question why - keep asking why, why, why, why - make their bloody brains work - get them out of their comfort zone - as I have quoted before - John Cleese once said - "MOST PEOPLE LIKE TO GET FROM THE CRADLE TO THE GRAVE AS SAFELY AS POSSIBLE!

Answer 2

I sent 2 of my children to Private school their fisrt 5 years. I then moved to a place with exellent public schools. Yes, the left does not like the idea for many of the reasons listed here by others. Money is not the real issue to them as much as responsibility. In private school the children don't run it and since it is private all of the PC crap from the left is gone. This is really what they don't like.

Money is the main issue though and vouchers don't really answer the questions. If you own a house you know about property and school taxes. If vouchers come into play there will be issues with collecting school taxes. If the government takes their share away and the the taxes go down, the whole system is in trouble. Becuase of the nature of inner city schools I can somewwhat agree on vouchers, but really even vouchers don't greate a solution to the problem.

In business we look for "root" cause on something that is not working. The root cause is that over the last 30 years schools have lost control. One lawsuit after another and now we struggle to give an education. Most of this can be attributed to the left and that is a fact. Giving money to all is not the answer, but the current state isn't either. It really is a society problem that the left really should get the credit for.

What is more important? Being taught to read and write or a transgender bathroom?

Answer 3

Government education is the way to ensure no one will fight them when the socialists take away your freedoms, you will have been brainwashed completely by then.

This is another key phrase in identifying a socialist, ask them for vouchers and they will screech NO!!!, that is your first clue.

They cry about choice on everything until AMericans want the choice of where they send their money and their children to school, they want a monopoly on brainwashing the little ones.

Just look at some of the answers you received, clearly disturbing.

Answer 4

Why is it that the same people who demand an end to social welfare programs demand an education voucher? Where is the difference?

As Stephanie states, move to an area that is a good environment for raising your children. Commute the extra 20 miles to work; I do.

Lastly, support the "failing schools" by attending PTA meetings, local council meetings, et al, and offer your input to change the system.

Don't abandon the ship, man the pumps!

Answer 5

The right want to return to an era where education is only for the rich. The voucher program is a stepping stone in that direction.
The neo-cons want to turn back the clock about 200 years, where the working class is reduced to serfdom and all the wealth is owned by the wealthiest 5%.
Breaking public education is essential for them to achieve this plutocratic and extremely backward agenda.
We need a good, inclusive public education system. And tax the hell out of over-paid right-wingers, if that's what it takes!

Answer 6

That is no problem as long as you are ready to pay for the tuition. Nobody says your kids MUST attend public school.
My problem with voudhers is two fold. I don't like taking tax dollars out of a public school system to support religious private schools. I also believe in a separation between church and state.

Answer 7

I went to public schools for most of my education and so did my children. None of those schools were failing, but, of course, I've seen only the tiniest sample in a huge amalgam of local educational systems. Also, the last of my children graduated from high school in 1998, so in the interim, things could have changed even in those schools.

I went to a private school for the last two years of high school not because the school failed, but because I did, mostly because of a typical teenager's arrogance. I couldn't see eye to eye with an English teacher, so I simply stopped going to class.

But public schools gave me the following: an ability to speak French with surprising fluency (in junior high, yet); a solid understanding of Latin, chemestry, and biology; advanced skills in algebra, geometry, and trigonometry; the ability to read music and play a wide range of percussion instruments; and, most importantly, a deeper understanding of our wonderful English language.

Not all of the public schools are as good as the ones that I attended. Probably, not all are as good as they used to be. But I can't help but wonder to what extent the perception that they are failing comes from the same strain of arrogance that caused me to leave public schools at the end of my first junior year. At the time, I believed that my teacher and my school had failed me.

Hard-working or brilliant students will learn subject matter as long as it is well presented and assignments are well planned. The most important word in the previous sentence is the hyphenated one, and we must ask the question: what is causing students to study less, or less effectively, than they have in the past? What is different?

The main difference that I see is that there is a wider range of extremely entertaining diversions available to school-aged children that there have ever been, and while they have never seen schoolwork as the main focus of their lives, students now have more reasons than ever to rush through their assignments or not to do them at all.

I believe that what schools and parents have failed to do is to adopt a strategy to adapt to this fundamental change in the lives of children. Since the most important factor that separates the most successful students from the least is how much schoolwork they do outside of school, the onus falls most heavily on the parents.

But there is a second fundamental change that exacerbates the first; both parents work full time in many families, so Mom is not at home. Younger kids are in day care, and older ones come home to empty house where they can do as they please. Homework does not please them.

Yet when our children fail, we, in our arrogance, blame the schools.

How much of this will change with school choice? Not much. Quite a lot.

Not much in that the families who make wise choices already value education enough to combat the first factor and obviate the second. Quite a lot in that their children will be surrounded by students whose families have similar educational priorities. The schools may also be able to recruit more dedicated teachers with more advanced training, but the main factor will be the environment that is produced by receiving the most committed students.

I am not opposed to school choice, but it is not the panacea that many of its proponents believe it to be.

As for me? Sadly I never advanced to college until now, and I still write at the same level of skill with which I left high school 38 years ago.

Answer 8

When I was growing up, my parents who didn't have a lot made sure they moved to a local town that was one of the top 10 districts in the country. It's all about choice and what you are willing to do to make sure your children get the best education possible.

Answer 9

The short answer is the Teacher's Union. If the government allowed more children to take their money away from the public schools and to private schools, teachers wouldn't get as much money or as many benefits. The union is a huge contributor the democrats.

Did you know that the average teacher earns $47,602? That is for 9 months of work. That's $5,289.11/mo PLUS amazingly good benefits as they are state employees. OH...AND figure into that that their average work day is 6 hours.
I know they CLAIM that they work more hours grading papers and making up tests...but with scan-trons and using the same tests year after year, that really isn't so. Teachers talk a good game, but they are lazy and whiney. How do I know? My first degree is in Elementary Ed.

Answer 10

Once that happens the school will not receive any more funding will be put on a stadardize list. Then eventually be shut down. This is why it is so hard for parents alll the damn red tape