I get back to education a lot. After seeing Anna's opponent supported the election of an ASSS signatory -
old diary - to a local school board, we have stressed the school issues. But in the high income levels another anti-voucher talking point REALLY works - vouchers will LOWER home values. What you say - explanation below the fold:
An increasing body of literature shows that home values correlate to local school SAT scores.
ParaPundit quotes the Christian Science Monitor:
Cities on the coasts and in Southern states like Florida and Texas have the largest gaps in home prices and test scores. In Brookline, Mass., for instance, an additional $250,000 means the difference between living in a top-notch versus mediocre school district.
The starting price for a three bedroom, two-bath house in Brookline is $700,000, says Kathleen Alexander, a realtor at Century 21 Cityside. But one of the "best-kept secrets," according to Ms. Alexander, is the nearby Melrose-Stoneham area, where a comparable house sells for $450,000.
The difference? The caliber of the schools in the different neighborhoods. Brookline High School scored significantly higher on the 2004 SAT test than Melrose High School. Average scores at Brookline were 578 on the verbal portion of the test, and 598 on the math; at Melrose High they were 519 and 513, respectively.
Do realtors think this is true. I googled and found that most realtor websites give you the SAT scores for their local schools. If the people pushing homes think it's important enough to stress, you better believe it impacts housing prices.
Take a look at the 2005 Connecticut Magazine article rating CT towns. There is almost a direct correlation of schools and housing costs - only the town economy had as high a correlation for housing costs.
What does this mean? If you get vouchers, how do you differentiate "desirable" neighborhoods for "undesirable"? Yes, the income level may be exclusionary, but you lose a big selling point. Heck, remember the national real estate company ad showing a pregnant woman running beside a school bus asking kids about test scores? It runs deep.
Personnally, I believe the goal is to get ALL public schools the resources they need to get ALL kids a quality education. But talking about the 2006 election and getting Democrats in office, I like running against pro-voucher candidates.
Pro public schools is a winner in most Republican strongholds - right or wrong, they frequently have good schools. One more pro-Democrat talking point to use in the right situation.