Posted on 06/27/2008 10:52:41 AM PDT by JZelle
Eleanor Holmes Norton is hoping to save nearly 2,000 city students from the dreaded federal voucher program that allows them to attend well-functioning private schools in a safe and nurturing environment.
Mrs. Norton vehemently opposes the voucher program because of its imposition on the District´s public schools, which, of course, perform at levels of bad and worse. Mrs. Norton and the like-minded in the Democrat-controlled Congress want to end the $18 million program because it works, is a big hit with the parents of disadvantaged students and provides low-income families with a choice.
Some of the testimonials of the parents can be watched at www.voicesofschoolchoice.org. Mrs. Norton believes in the recuperative power of the public school system, which is a note that has been sounded for the past two generations with disastrous results. The city´s public schools remain impervious to reform. The system churns out a contingent of functional illiterates who lack the skills to compete in a high-tech, information-based society.
The Democrat-entrenched city has demonstrated that money is not the answer. The city has one of the country´s highest per-pupil expenditures, nearly $15,000 a head, and some of the most dismal national test scores. Superintendents come and go, as do mayors and council members, and the city´s public school system lurches along on its dysfunctional path.
The concept of providing low-income families with a choice in learning institutions is hardly novel. Choice is an essential American quality, for choice pits one against the other in a competition of sorts. And competition spurs growth, advancements and efficiency that benefit consumers. Or should.
Alas, the city´s public school system is not in the business of competing. It sometimes is not in the business of equipping students with books on time.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
OK - let me shed some light on this.
I used to support vouchers. I don’t know if I do anymore and here’s why:
The performance of a school district is more related to the attitudes and values of the students attending than the schools themselves.
If the kids don’t care, no voucher is gonna change that. The kids are mostly thug larvae because of lack of a father in the home and/or a mother who whores around like a common French hooker. These kids have no value in education.
Now, you could argue that the parents who care enough to utilize vouchers are better parents whose kids may benefit.
To a point, this is true, but realistically, these kids may have already been poisoned by the DC schools. A bad kid in a good school doesn’t turn good, mostly, he turns other kids bad.
However, a good kid attending school with a bunch of bad kids is a LOT more likely to be spoiled as well. In other words, a kid with decent values might attend a DC school and in first grade, he does well, but by 4th grade, hanging around in class with all the thugs has turned him into thug-lite. There’s a point where he can still be saved, and honestly, yeah, some have strong enough values to work with it anyway, but those kids usually do well no matter what school they go to, vouchers or no vouchers.
Like they say, a bad apple spoils the whole bunch. Vouchers really are best if the kid hasn’t made it too far in school yet, IMHO, like still in early to middle elementary school.
Under the values of political correctness, we’re not supposed to say some of these things, such as the values and attitudes of parents and students being a strong indicator of a student’s performance in school.
Instead we’re supposed to decry the alleged neglect and lack of funding of public schools. In the case of the D.C. public schools, their per capita spending per pupil is among the highest in the nation, yet they get some of the worst results in their schools.
You’re right, lack of a responsible father in the home is related to various social problems with the children as they grow up. But we’re not supposed to talk about that, we’re supposed to celebrate diversity, we’re supposed to think 2 women or a whole houseful of unrelated adults are just as good for the children, and we’re not supposed to hurt the feelings of the single mother who doesn’t have a man in her life.
D.C. is a good test case for lots of social engineering. When they start asking for more money for their schools, it needs to be pointed out that they already spend more than most school systems per capita, which should indicate that money alone is not going to solve their problems.
The whole point in preventing vouchers is to block the appropriate education of free-thinkers. Marxism can never rear its filthy head again unless students are prevented from learning the truth of what a failed form of enslavement looks like.
undeniable truth about liberalism,
#2: liberals support no individual freedoms outside of those that involve sexual behavior choices.
The new Super of DC schools is trying to get things moving. She’s actually closed a bunch of schools and fired a bunch of administrators and some teachers. That was made easier by the revelation of corruption in the unions and administration. I figure she’ll last until the end of the year before the DC politicos can dump her and get things back to normal.
ping for later
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