[Tired of Taxes]

We cannot afford private school tuition, either. But, I would never support a voucher system. My guess is that the vouchers will only be given to people below a certain income level (most of whom don't pay school taxes, anyway). That means we'll have to foot the bill not only for public schools but for private schools, too, while our kids still won't be able to afford it.

The other scenario is that the gov't awards vouchers to every child, regardless of income. But, then the gov't will be assuming control of the private schools, and we can wave goodbye to quality education anywhere.

I like the idea of public school tuition - parents who send their children to public school pay the tuition (rather than forcing the rest of us to foot the bill). That would limit funds to public schools and keep them from overspending.

[sparkydragon]

The only reason I would support a voucher system for those that don't pay school taxes is that the vouchers are generally for less than is being spent on the child in government schools. Honestly, if the public schools pay $8000/year/child and they are giving out $6000/year/child in vouchers, I see a a 25% decrease in the amount we're spending on education. Add to that that these underprivileged kids are more likely to become contributing members of society, and thus contributing to economic growth, rather than welfare deadbeats, I'm sure the savings is much more than that.

That said, I think that the vouchers will end up being used as grounds by the government to establish "quality controls" on otherwise private schools, and as a reason to exclude other school choice. After all, if you can choose what school your child goes to and can afford the tuition, why would you need to homeschool?