First of all, let me admit my own prejudice and say that I am or have been almost totally against government funds being taken from the Public School system and routed to private schools and home schooling. My attitude has been fairly entrenched due to my one experience of a relative being put into a position where he had to support his step children going to a private school. My uncle was in an abusive relationship with his second wife and basically cut off from his family. However, one aspect of that situation put him in the position of having cough up the coins to send his two stepchildren to a private church owned school. He was practically broke so I figured, at the time, that it was likely simply a school founded of the attempt to segregate more so that any real improvement of scholarship.
That was in the late 1970s early 1980s. Things MIGHT have changed but now we are dealing with another attempt to go to “vouchers” where federal and state funds, paid into by all of us, are being pointed toward private schools and even to home-schooling. On NPR this evening there was a big report on “The Middle” that postulated that “school choice” was an interest across the board. I have always assumed it was a right wing, conservative to repressive policy fronted by the arch-conservatives that now own the former Republican party.
There were, however some interesting points. One was a woman who had a daughter that had a severe disability and the only place she would find a school that was able to handle the situation and where her daughter could excel was in a private school, with a scholarship and a voucher system would have been of help.
Other points made were that 1. why invest in a voucher system for private schools, just work ons the Public school system...everybody needs a good school. 2. how do we regulate the private schools...do we just let them teach anything and everything, including religion? If so, how would that help students that don’t share the ideology of the owners and organizers of that particular school.
What I saw hints of, in addition, was a move in many states, usually heavily red states, to not only push the voucher program but to also cut back on funds allocated to public schools, almost forcing everybody to go to a private school or suffer from lack of support by the state.
I find the idea of public funds that are supposed to finance the education for ALL American children going to private schools, especially ideological slanted schools, to be something that I could not support. However, in the case of the woman with the daughter that wasn’t effectively served in public schools (students with special needs), I find myself wavering a bit.
I am gong to establish a poll, but invite comments as well. Where do we generally as Democratic leaning folks stand on this issue. I also suspect that the program was slanted, although they claimed to be “in the middle” and the data being given by at least one of the speakers was advocating for vouchers instead of the old system that worked well for most of us.