School Reforms on the Brink (unionized public school empire strikes back)

The Wall Street Journal ^ | June 4, 2009 | Editorial

[St. Louis Conservative]

The education establishment and its political allies employ multiple methods to keep kids trapped in rotten schools. One tactic is to use control of school boards to prevent or limit the creation of charter schools. Another is to smother existing voucher programs with rules and red tape. Real world examples are currently playing out in Milwaukee and New York City.

The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program provides vouchers for some 20,000 low-income, mostly minority children to attend private schools. Because the 20-year-old program polls above 60% with voters, and even higher among minorities, killing it outright would be unpopular. Instead, Democratic Governor Jim Doyle wants to reduce funding and pass "reforms" designed to regulate the program to death. The goal is to discourage private schools from enrolling voucher students and thus force kids to return to unionized public schools.

To that end, Democrats in the state legislature voted last week to cut per-pupil payments to private schools by $165 while increasing public school spending by $400 per student. Taxpayer support for students in the program is only $6,607 per student to begin with, which is less that half of the $13,468 for students in Milwaukee public schools.

Those funding cuts would be accompanied by mandates of dubious academic benefit. One regulation would require schools that have already been accredited to meet additional accreditation requirements. Another would force schools to offer expensive bilingual programs that suck up scarce resources and are spurned by most immigrant parents who want their children taught in English.

The irony is that satisfaction and enrollment at Milwaukee public schools has steadily declined despite these very policies that choice opponents want to impose on successful private schools.

[blam]

When the revolution begins, shoot union members first.

[pnh102]

The voters of these cities deserve to lose these voucher programs as they continue to vote for Democrats who want to get rid of them.

[This_far]

“When the revolution begins, shoot union members first.”

They’ll probably be the first to take the hit from the financial downturn and will be in the streets beating down the doors of those that they voted for.

(What government services are usually used to promote tax increases? Decrease police, fire, teachers)

[upchuck]

Bump. Exactly!

[Scanian]

I’m a bit of a traditionalist—I still say, let’s kill all the lawyers.