"My daughter couldn’t read. She was in the sixth grade. I had been back and forth with her since the fourth grade. I noticed as I tried to help her with her homework that she couldn’t read. But she was getting Bs and Cs on her report card.""I asked the school to hold her back because she wasn’t ready to go on to the next grade. They said they couldn’t do it because she wasn’t failing."
The mystery to me is how some of the kids get through school with Bs and Cs when they can't read. But I'll guarantee you they do...either because they are "good kids" and some misguided teacher is afraid of hurting their "self-esteem", or because a principal somewhere has told the teachers that no child can be allowed to fail - whether they can do the work or not.
I think vouchers are an excellent idea. One problem is going to be, in cities there are generally plenty of private schools to provide choice. In more rural areas, the only thing available (especially for single parents who can't afford to drive their children 30 minutes to an hour each way to school) is often the public schools.
Schools will spring up when more vouchers are available. That is a danger too. The far left is very good at getting government funds. They won't get a lot of customers but they will be bad PR for the movement.