Posted on 08/27/2020 2:50:17 PM PDT by MNDude
I have no disagreement that what the public schools are offering to the kids tends to be atrocious, particularly in their liberal indoctrination. Yet, I think we need to act very cautiously and intelligently on how we proceed with this.
Before we open the floodgates to this, I think we need to consider "what is it that makes private schools better?" Is it the teachers? The curriculum? Sometimes yes, sometimes no.
I have been sending my daughter to a private religious school for 7 years, and in my experience, what makes private schools better is this:
1. The high involvement of the parents. 2. They keep the bad kids out. 3. Shared values.
What I have seen that very few parents are very wealthy. Yet, it is important enough for them to make sacrifices to send their kids to these schools. I was in between jobs as a school bus driver for one year, and financial aid was available to make it possible to continue to send my daughter there.
I know there are many low income families there who do volunteer by helping with school lunch, etc. to get additional discounts.
If we start allowing any child to go anywhere with zero sacrifice on behalf of the parents, these will no longer be anything special about these school.
Last night in a speech, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott said "School choice, to allow black and brown families a chance to escape the big-city public schools that have failed their kids for decades. I don't care if it's a public, private, charter, virtual or a home school, When a parent has a choice, a kid has a better chance."
He seems to be talking as if these are places that are filled with nice kids with concerned parents, that are just poor victims of mean society. As the old saying goes "where ever you go, there you are."
Also, Republicans are not at all shy about stating that "school choice" is just another form of integration. Like so many other places of society, it will lead to more reverse discrimination.
Many of these private schools already have long waiting lists. If you hoping to get your child in, what do you think will happen when your child does not meet all the "check marks" as other "disadvantaged" students that have registered?
Once these private schools become filled with children by parents who have only moderate or little investment in their kids education, it is only a matter of time that the voices of these new parents will drown out the voices of the invested parents, and the values and even the staff will be sure to change.
I really hope we move with discretion with what we do.
I look at it from the standpoint that public schools are monopolies. Monopolies are only allowed in the US if they are deemed essential or where it would be impractical to have competition. Imagine having competing power companies with their own lines crisscrossing every city. There is no logical way to argue that schools should be free from competition.
Competition. It is basic free-market economics.
Exactly. If you send your kid to a private school and it’s rotten, you can just yank them out and send them to a different private school. If you send your kid to a public school and it’s rotten, well, you’re probably stuck unless you want to relocate to another municipality.
I thought that school choice meant an actual choice in schools by a parent and their child. Thus family next door may not choose the same school as you and the family on the other side of town may choose the same school as you.
Public schools are like the 1997 Toyota Camry with 700,000 miles and a poor maintenance record. Sure it could be fixed but it is cheaper to buy a new car.
Public schools are unrepairable. Abolish them. And start over with something not controlled. Y the government.
You can disagree but you’d be wrong.
Most low income families who want a better education for their children are locked into public schools because of money.
Public schools rake in a ton of money per child - money that should follow the child if they go to a private school.
“I look at it from the standpoint that public schools are monopolies. Monopolies are only allowed in the US if they are deemed essential or where it would be impractical to have competition. Imagine having competing power companies with their own lines crisscrossing every city. There is no logical way to argue that schools should be free from competition.”
Great point. I am not sure exactly what the solution is. Wonder how feasible it would be to put huge investments in new charter schools.
You raise a good point
I don’t believe there are any firm definitions of “school choice.” but “school choice” in any definition does not mean government forcing children on unwilling private schools. That would be completely backwards.
It could mean whatever the local district may allow, leaving it up to local voters and parents. It could mean something as broad as a child being able to pay for a private school with the public money that would have been paid to the public school by the state. It may be as narrow as parents having the choice to open a charter school in their district without union interference.
If transference of government/tax money to private schools is involved, I could see it going to fund Islamic madrassas. there are things like that we certainly do not want.
You make an excellent point. And what you suspect might happen has already happened. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.
I taught Honors Physics classes in an urban high school for years. Those classes were very successful. I sent kids on to schools of engineering and schools of medicine. Why were those kids so successful? All three of your conditions were present:
1. The parents were involved.
2. The bad kids were kept out.
3. There were shared values (self-discipline and hard work).
But then the complaints started coming in. My classes weren’t open to enough kids. So the entry requirements were loosened. All sorts of unqualified and unmotivated kids ended up in Honors Physics.
Pretty soon those classes were Honors in name only.
Teachers
learning environment
Temperament of children
Temperament and Temper of Parents...
The money follows the child to whatever school the parents choose that will also accept them.
It doesn’t mean that private schools will have to accept all children.
If parents/children can leave crappy, unresponsive schools and take their funding with them to a more responsive school, all schools will become more responsive.
Really good, talented teachers may even start their own schools in order to rid themselves of deadwood administrators.
I think a big problem is that in most all school districts, the cost is fully burdened upon property owners while parent of children who send their kids but do not pay a penny have little if no vested interest and possibly little to no interest in what/how their children are educated. You get what you pay for....
Meanwhile, the taxpayer has very little say in any matter. Public schools are a social juggernaut with very little “we the people” control. The attitude I often encounter is “well, you are not an educator, nor do you have children in our school so “f off”.
Some states oversee better than others I am sure, but it is the taxpayer who watches their millions and billions get pretty much wasted/ Now, if you choose to put your child elsewhere, you get the distinct privilege of paying twice, once for the empty seat your child left behind, and the new seat they occupy because you care.
The only reason “conservatives” would claim to be against school choice based on conservative grounds is
1. They don’t understand what they’re talking about.
or,
2. They are not conservatives or patriots at all, but Marxists disguised as conservatives.
The number one weapon of communism against America is control of the schools!
I think that is the way it works. Your kids can go to the designated school based on where you live on the school bus, but if you choose for them to go to another school then it's your responsibility to get them their and back.
Once the government gives vouchers for private schools, it gets the camel’s nose into the tent, and for all intents and purposes, they will no longer be “private”.
You make it seem so easy, but the logistics of changing schools midyear, especially after your children have made some friends, etc. is daunting.
It's the equivalent of telling a miner to "learn to code" when the mines close.
The anti-Americans will go to ANY LENGTH to make sure there is no school choice.
School choice = liberty.
Forced schooling gave us BLM, Antifa, and what you see on university campi.
The communists know that school choice will start the floodgates of liberty to be opened.
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