should your tax dollars be provided for school vouchers for PRIVATE schools?

Question

anyone wonder how it is possible for public tax dollars to allow people to go to private schools?




http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0710-02.htm

Answer 1

No...people who want their children in private schools already have the option to choose it and pay for it, however, those with children NOT in the public school system should not have to pay taxes on it...Voucher's should be kept for public schools.

I Home School and still have to pay taxes for public schools...

Answer 2

Yes, several reasons.

The lower income parent can have a choice, now only open to higher income parents.

The better track record of education of in private schools.

Public schools are NOT underfunded, the are inefficient. Private schools typically educate students at lower price per student than public schools. Sure some of the money in private schools is from private donations, but the tuition is still lower typically than the cost to educate a student in public schools to the tax payer.

Not all private schools are Christian fundamentalist, even if religious, the schools doesn't require them to be Christian.

The editorial implies because some students don't benefit from vouchers, no student should. Sounds backwards to me.

Answer 3

Yes, they should. Why is the left prochoice about abortion, but against choice when it comes to education? Are you seriously trying to tell me that you think our public schools are doing a good job? Our kids are learning less and less, but teachers are too busy indoctrinating them into the liberal point of view to give a damn. It's pathetic.

Let's look at some of the "issues" that have been plaguing American teachers in recent memory. Well, there's the little issue of some schools wanting to eliminate the valedictorian position. Why? Because it's "not fair" to the little shits who didn't bother to show up to class and put forth their best efforts. What about being "fair" to the kids who took it all seriously and busted their butts to be on top?

Or how about the Great Red Ink Controversy? Surely you've heard of it...it appears that red ink is too traumatic for our little darlings. Purple has become the new red, it seems. What the...?!? If your paper sucks and is covered in colored ink, are you honestly going to feel better about it if the ink isn't red?!? And why on earth should anyone worry about making you feel better when you screwed up? Does *your* boss do that?

This is a very touchy subject for me, and I don't even have kids. But I'm sick and tired of the schools watering down the real things kids need to know and worrying about crap like the above. I could go on and on...

For the record - a good teacher is worth their weight in gold. But the idiot teacher's unions protect the crappy teachers, too - it's damned near impossible to fire a teacher, regardless of what they do. That certainly isn't choice, either...

Answer 4

This is why WI is going broke •State Pension. Teachers belong to the Wisconsin state pension plan. That plan requires a 6.8% employer contribution and 6.2% from the employee. However, according to the collective-bargaining agreement in place since 1996, the district pays the employees' share as well, for a total of 13%. •Teachers' Supplemental Pension. In addition to the state pension, Milwaukee public-school teachers receive an additional pension under a 1982 collective-bargaining agreement. The district contributes an additional 4.2% of teacher salaries to cover this second pension. Teachers contribute nothing.

Answer 5

Absolutely. Funding is not the problem with public schools, teachers are extremely well compensated for the 180 days (36 weeks or 8 months) they work when their total compensation is added up. The real problem is tenure and the unions protection of incompetent teachers. Teachers like to blame parents, but they know THEY are the real problem which is why they send their own kids to private schools at a rate double of everyone else.

Answer 6

No.

Why?

Private schools, though not a rule, are predominately Christian or Catholic. By supporting vouchers to go to these schools, you are basically supporting the integration of church and state. Just because you say it's someone's choice where they go doesn't make it so. How many Atheist public schools can you name? Buddhist? Muslim? Hindu? Can you name any that aren't Christian, Catholic, or basically just a public school for rich kids? There are none! And those private schools for rich kids would cost more than 7,000 dollars (the amount a voucher would be good for) to attend.

You are left with a lot of Christian schools to chose from. Fancy that, a self-prescribed Christian Right trying to get kids to go to private schools that support Christian ideals.

And the entire basis for trying to get kids to go to private schools is bull! Do they hear the words that come out of their mouths? "We want 100% of students in public schools to be either proficient or advanced by 2010." I'm not sure if that's the actual date, but it's around there. Only fifty percent of students can be above average. If you have more than that then all you're doing is raising the standards. If every kid in the nation got 100% on the tests than everyone would be average. Saying that "50% of students are below the proficient threshold" is like saying that people breath. It's obvious!

Kids develop differently. Some kids just can't do math. It's impossible for them. They don't have the required abstract thinking for algebra or geometry or calculus. It's not their fault and it's not the teachers fault and imposing impossible standards on kids and teachers is not going to help them any. Sending them to a Christian school where they can be forced to learn Christian values is not going to help them any. Just like prayer can't make you taller, prayer can't make you smarter.

The answer is to increase funding to Public education so that we can get kids supplies, computers, teachers that care about their job and their students, administrators that aren't idiots, and basic things needed to learn.



PS - Anyone who truly believes that Japan or India or China has a better public school system does not understand the nature of their schools. Cramming may look good on tests but it doesn't teach you anything. Let me give you an anecdotal example.

My father grew up in Hawaii. A big Asian population. He was always a precocious child and understood the principals of math and English and science. Although he did not earn the best grade on all the tests, he would always get a near perfect score on his finals. Contrast this to Asian students who would cram and cram and cram, get perfect scores, and then get C's on their finals. Cramming is a short term solution that would help any kid achieve better test scores but would not improve their overall understanding or intelligence.

Answer 7

YES.

Let's have a show of hands. How many that vote no are school teachers? It'd be a ***** to have to improve your product to survive wouldn't it?
And even tho the opposite is being preached in the public school systems, competition IS GOOD.

Sorry, we must protect the little children, so don't let anyone under 18 read this.

Answer 8

No, that is just a republican plan to use the taxpayer's dollar to send their children to private schools. Its shameful how cheap and stingy they are with their money. They want the poor and the middle class to pay for the schooling of their children.

Answer 9

I am always troubled by putting tax dollars into religous schools. However, the public schools arer such failures, we should not put additional money there either until they learn to use properly what they get.

Answer 10

Absolutely. If money was provided for private schools the teachers' unions would lose their power over the parents and cirriculum. The result would be that public schools would either shape up or go out of business and teachers would have to compete for jobs based on merit and results. As always, let the marketplace decide.