Posted on 07/05/2002 6:49:32 AM PDT by capecodder
Say "no" to vouchers!!!
They are the Trojan Horse that will bring government control into private schools.
The positive aspect is that the introduction of foodstamps did not lead to more government regulation of supermarkets. This is because, according to people who hold this view, the consumer consumer controls the spending of the foodstamp. Because the consumer will also control the spending of the voucher, they conclude that same conditions (e.g. no regulation) will apply for schools.
I haven't thought of a good response to this argument.
Vouchers go to parents. Not the schools. Therefore, there can be no government involvement - separation of church and state, remember? If parents choose religious schools, the government can't get involved in their religious choices.
vote "yes" for vouchers and school choice. Shut down the indoctrination centers ASAP.
Each year thse liberal centers create thousands of indoctrobots. Only the liberals and libertarians want public schools and the lifestyles they teach. Others want the freedom from indoctrination.
Vote for parential choice. Vote for freedom. Don't let others with political motives dictate for you.
I firmly believe that this argument against vouchers was started and fostered by the NEA as a scare tactic. Its seems reasonable at first since government always wants control. But you must understand the nature of private schools - they are private because they do not want government control. Vouchers will not change this.
Choose thou, whom will you serve? Forced imprisonment by the dictators, or freedom?
I'm glad to see others understand the issue. There are several reasons why vouchers will not mean government control of private schools. Like I posted above, I believe this is a NEA scare tactic.
Vouchers would grant the government the "right" to collect your money and redistribute it to the more needy or dictate where and how you spend it by granting you a voucher. Collecting taxes and redistributing them is socialism.
Vouchers will cause private school tuition to escalate as witnessed by the sharp increase in public college tuition after the GI Bill was passed in 1943. Fewer parents would be able to afford true private schools.
Vouchers would politicize private schools the same way as public schools. Dr. Gary North, president of The Institute for Christian Economics, describes how voters/parents have consented to a system that rewards educational bureaucrats rather than serving parents as consumers with legal authority over their children. The chief losers of the political scheme are the students.
Vouchers would methodically expunge religion from private school curricula. George Bernard Shaw of The Socialist Fabian Society of England frankly stated, "Nothing will more quickly destroy independent Christian schools than state aid; their freedom and independence will soon be compromised, and before long their faith."
I fail to understand how vouchers will bring this about. Perhaps someone could explain the actual mechanics by which parents using vouchers to send kids to the schools of their choice will cause the above?
Regulations always follow government funding.
Here's the start of a list of likely hypothetical scenarios: How long before a civil rights suit v. private school that doesn't accept a student with a voucher?
How long before the government requires certain accrediation of schools accepting vouchers? What about teacher training? What about hiring practices and civil rights?... _________
Source: Berit Kjos
http://www.crossroad.to/Quotes/Q-A/charter.htm
Vouchers & Charter Schools
Question: What do you think of vouchers and charter schools? Are you for or against them?
Answer: I can best answer your question with a quote from the glossary in Brave New Schools and the corresponding footnotes. Those who have my book can find these at the end of the footnote section in the appendix. The "strings" attached to vouchers apply all the more to charter schools, which also release the state from many laws that protect parents:
VOUCHERS: Tuition credits used by parents to pay for their child's education in a private school of their choice. The catch: any school accepting these vouchers must conform to national goals and standards. "A simple fact of political life is that public regulation follows money.... Private schools that operate with public money will be subject to public regulations...." "Changes, big changes, are needed," wrote Albert Shanker, President of the American Federation of Teachers. "...it may be that we can't get the big changes we need without choice."
In March, 1984, the U.S. Supreme court ruled that private schools are subject to government regulations even if they receive no direct federal funds. The Court ruled six to three that a private school may be held accountable for federal rules because it enrolls students who receive tuition money from the government. Even though the checks are payable to individual students, not the school, the Court said any scholarships, loans, or grants to students "constitute federal financial assistance to that entity." The opinion, written by Justice Buron R.White, found that the language of the law "contains no hint that Congress perceived a substantive difference between direct institutional assistance and aid received by a school through its student."
On March 22, 1988, P.L. 100-259 became the law of the land. "The measure would extend the reach of four civil right measures that were limited by a 1984 U.S. Supreme court ruling, Grove City College v. Bell. The ruling said that only the 'program or activity' of an entity receiving federal funds, not the entire institution, was covered by anti-discrimination laws. The legislation would reverse the ruling and make it clear that the entire institution must not discriminate if any component receives federal aid." (Congressional Quarterly Weekly, p. 774) Cited by Virginia Birt Baker, "Educational 'Choice'" Free World Research Report, March 1993.
Talk about spin and scare tactics. There is no explanation. Propagada never has much logic.
I don't think vouchers meet this criteria:
1) voucher money is a return to the parent what the parent had been paying in taxes.
2) As someone above noted it is more like foodstamps. Grocery stores accepting food stamps are not regulated.
The key distinction is that parents are exercising there choice as to how to spend their money (rebated through vouchers), not the school or government. The student is not a conduit for government funds in this case. The funds belong to the parent, not the government.
There is one flaw in your example, the government doesn't have a monoply to protect in the grocery industry.
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