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"As a proponent of vouchers in general, I like what seems to be a "backdoor" approach."

While I like any progress towards full privatization of K-12 Education, why must we use the "backdoor"?! I work in some underprivileged neighborhoods and meet the kids and parents who are entrapped by these less-than-mediocre schools...they have the same dreams and aspirations as you or I, why must they be condemned to inner-city schools that don't teach?! Or at least they don't teach AS WELL as their Private School counterparts. In any event, this ought to be a huge selling point to innner-city parents and we should also be making a pitch to the high-quality teachers out there, of which there are certainly many. Good teachers could benefit incredibly from the De-Collectivization of the Schools...there'd be a bidding war for them!! It's the poorly-educated, unmotivated teachers who need the damned Unions. Let them find other occupations in which their indifference does not condemn another generation to mediocrity!

Right must separate the Unions from the Teachers--and the inner-city parents from the RATS--on this issue!!

FReegards...MUD

While I like any progress towards full privatization of K-12 Education

Not me, Mudboy. Did you know that President Bush sent his daughters to public high schools in Texas? Do you think that's because he couldn't afford to send them to private schools? Or, is it because he and First Lady Bush were happy with the quality of education in those public schools?

Not all private schools are great. The idea that just because a school is private means it's automatically better than every public school is just plain false, and parents (and teachers) who have substantial experience in both settings will honestly tell you that.

So, dream on about the illusion you have with respect to all schools being wonderful just because they are private. Not true in every case. Believe me.

And, don't even get me started on how much LESS money teachers in private school are paid in comparison to their public school counterparts. The only reason any of those private school teachers stay is because the kids are so well behaved and the parents are involved. If those two elements didn't exist, many private school teachers would quit their jobs in about five minutes.

Mud, all true, but the backdoor approach allows the idea of vouchers to get into people's minds as a good idea without all the ideological baggage.

The problem is, the people who benefit most from vouchers -- the poor -- are voting for people who are dead set against it. The idea is to get vouchers out of being just a Republican idea.