Posted on 02/08/2006 7:52:48 PM PST by Coleus
The president suggests vouchers for kids trapped in failing public schools.
Pro-family education experts are applauding the Bush administration for a bold new school-choice plan they say could help public-school students who are trapped in schools that fail to meet basic standards.
Dan Lips, education analyst at The Heritage Foundation, said the proposal would provide $100 million in federal money for local groups to provide options.
"Basically, it would offer scholarships worth $4,000 for children to transfer out of public schools that have failed to meet adequate yearly progress for six years," he told CitizenLink. "It would give these children an opportunity to transfer into private schools."
This new money would be added to funding for the existing No Child Left Behind Act, the landmark 2002 education-reform legislation that allows children in chronically failing schools to transfer to better-performing public schools within the same district.
"So far, the public-school choice provision of No Child Left Behind has been really lacking," Lips said. "This would really sidestep the educational bureaucracy, which, for too long, hasn't been working, and put power in the hands of parents."
Clint Bolick, president and general counsel of the Alliance for School Choice, said he has been waiting for this program.
"This proposal marks a giant step forward in making sure that truly no child is left behind," he said.
The real trouble with public-school choice, he said, is there are few large urban school districts — the ones that seem to have the most failing schools — that also have enough seats in better-performing schools to accommodate the children entitled to attend them.
"It is absolutely essential to add private schools to the options available to children in chronically failing public schools in order to make their rights under federal law meaningful," Bolick said.
Lips said the proposed $100 million isn't huge, but the impact could be.
"The administration's proposed budget for the U.S. Department of Education is $58 billion, so this is just a very small piece of that," he explained. "But it’s a really important start for these families, and it will make an important difference in their lives."
Bolick pointed out that the scholarships will be competitive — and added that any child who would qualify for private-school choice under this proposal would have already suffered for six years.
"That is more than long enough," he said, "to ask a child to wait to receive a high-quality education."
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
To learn more about school choice, see the Focus on Social Issues Web site.
Oh YES.
Help the kids and hit the teachers' union where it hurts them.
Yes, you can hear the NEA screaming already. They're about as honest as the Teamsters Union, and they dominate the public school systems.
Bolick pointed out that the scholarships will be competitive - and added that any child who would qualify for private-school choice under this proposal would have already suffered for six years.Six years? That's one half of the child's government schooling.
That doesn't seem right.
If I had a child about to enter the first grade at a school that had already failed for six years, I'd want the option of a voucher so he wouldn't have to attend the failing school at all.
Ping!
Thanks for the ping. I'm not a supporter of the voucher system, but I have to admit it would beat the current system and force the public schools into competition. (I'd just rather see complete privatization of all education, but I'm not holding my breath waiting for that to happen). :-)
The way I read it, that's exactly what would happen.
It's the SCHOOL that they're counting the six years on, not the child.
I don't see this ever happening.
After watching that 20/20 special on How America is failing its schools recently... I was pleased to hear that in places where vouchers are allowed, both the voucher schools (charter or private) and the public schools perform better.
However, after watching ALL of that program, I have no doubt at all (and neither does my husband after watching it), that home schooling our littlest is the best and most important decision WE can make for her. A lot would have to happen in the education system of this country for me to entrust my child to it. Mainly dissolving the teachers' union so the kids have a fighting chance to learn.
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