Thinking About … Vouchers

I’ve often wondered why they don’t take those same dollars to improve the underachieving schools. With the money they hand out for the vouchers they could give teachers a larger salary to attract better teachers, make smaller classroom sizes, or hire part time tutors for the children who need it. Shoving the kids across town to a better performing school is not a good idea. It will not help the child who did not attempt to try for a scholarship.

Ok so I am a low income family and I get a voucher of say 1500, how does it help? Well it gets me half way to a private education but I and my wife are already working 3 or 4 jobs. How to come up with the rest of it, hurray for candy sales. Seriously if I had a voucher for half the price of a Bentley it wouldn’t be that helpful for this middle class stiff but to a rich or well compensated employee? BINGO half price Bentley. Look at where they set the income threshold originally they wanted to help those who were half way there. Lets see how many real working middle class families this really helps.

Vouchers are a poor idea. Its like giving those private school money for doing very little except looking good on paper. Some kids are not going to succeed no matter what you do.

Vouchers look great on paper but in the real world they cannot work for 3 reasons. n1. 4 students take vouchers taking $8000 from the school. 4 students equals how much less food do they prepare? How many less boxes of pencils? Would it ever be a full box? How much less paper? And of course, no less teachers, aids, librarians, textbooks, etc. nn2. No poor kids will ever be able to use a voucher. An extra $2000 is not much different than a $5000 college scholarship. You still have books, uniforms, those ridiculously expensive calcululators and other school supplied to pay for, and you’re mixing with the very wealthy now. No pressure. nn3. If all the better-off students flee the public schools, who’s left to care for them. If they’re taking money meant for private schools, there is no possible way public schools can improve. The competition theory is a joke. The charter schools will always have more money than public schools. They don’t need money from the public schools. The kids in charter schools were going to go there anyway, a voucher is gambling money for for Daddy’s next trip to Vegas.