DEATH SENTENCE FOR PRIVATE AND HOME EDUCATION, COURTESY OF SUPREME COURT

NewsWithViews.com ^ | July 8, 2002 | Charlotte Iserbyt

[madfly]

Charlotte Iserbyt ping!

[coloradan]

The Supreme Court's recent 5-4 decision allowing the constitutionality of financial aid to parents which they may use at religious or private schools, including virtual academy (computer-assisted-instruction) charter schools available to home schoolers, will result in the deliberate dumbing down of all education.

LOL!! The reason government schools are so go is because they have a monopoly, and the reason restaurants are so bad is because people can choose which ones to patronize.

[goodieD]

I disagree with the author's contentions on more than one level. First of all, most private schools I know do fine on their own, and if they had to tell government and their vouchers to take a flying leap, they would continue to do fine. Secondly, if vouchers are a left wing conspiracy, then why is the left so against them? Third, how do vouchers sound a death knell for home schools? Homeschoolers have always and will continue to go their own way, despite the left's attempts to halt them. I don't like government money anymore than the next person, and I certainly believe that there IS a huge socialist agenda concerning our kids. But this isn't it.

[FreedomFarmer]

This just in...
Renyolds Aluminum up 10 points in heavy trading....

[browardchad]

Those private schools which courageously, for reasons of conscience, resist vouchers will eventually be forced out of business due to their inability to remain competitive.

Wrong -- a relative handful of vouchers won't make a dent in the private school enrollment -- at least not until all public schools are failing, and all students have vouchers -- still a long way to go on that.

[fporretto]

I'll agree that there is some danger here. At the collegiate level, the use of Federal funds (Pell grants and NDSL loans) by students to pay their tuitions has been interpreted by the courts as justification for compelling the colleges to accept Federal quota and data collection requirements. I have no doubt that there are centralizers and statists within the education bureaucracy who would love to see that -- and worse -- happen to private grammar and high schools.

BUT... There's another factor. If there's a window of a few years during which the private schools can get voucher students without having to bend to the educrats, they could out-compete the government-run schools so thoroughly as to fatally undermine the case for "public" education. Public willingness to tax-fund education to any degree might collapse.

I'd call it a race.

Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
Visit The Palace Of Reason: http://palaceofreason.com

[r9etb]

Well said.

[Lizavetta]

Those private schools which courageously, for reasons of conscience, resist vouchers will eventually be forced out of business due to their inability to remain competitive.

You got it. The voucher-taking schools will be able to offer lower tuitions, because the voucher will make up the difference. The non-voucher schools will have to charge full freight.

Guess what the WalMartized citizenry will patronize? Guess who will go out of business because they're too expensive, and guess who will remain?

And the gadfly of private schools will have been solved, thanks to people's inability to resist "free" money.

[Eva]

I disagree with the contention that vouchers will bring gov't intervention in private schools. If the money comes with strings attatched, the private schools will have the right to turn down applicants. That would defeat the purpose of the vouchers, so it won't happen.

[FreeTally]

Man, the NEA sponsored propaganda is becomming relentless.

[Slyfox]

Many questions will crop up regarding vouchers:

Will vouchers be only available to lower-income students?

Will private schools be the able to "opt out" of having to recieve vouchers?

Will any school recieving vouchers be forced to hire government-approved teachers, including homosexuals?

Who's going to be put in charge of watchdogging non-government schools who accept vouchers?

[Windsong]

"First of all, most private schools I know do fine on their own, and if they had to tell government and their vouchers to take a flying leap"

Let me venture off the beaten path here and ask a hypothetical question. What if the guvmint suddenly halted the flow of Pell Grants, Stafford Loans, SEOG's and work-study programs to all the "Christian" or "religious" schools in the U.S., say, because they wouldnt admit openly gay students. What then? Would you still think they would do "fine" without those funds?

[Free the USA]

Index Bump

[FreeTally]

You got it. The voucher-taking schools will be able to offer lower tuitions, because the voucher will make up the difference.

You have no idea what you are talking about. The voucher amount will be less than the actual tuition a student would have to pay. The school, if it accepts vouchers, has to take the student and accept the voucher amount dictated by the State. That's how it is here in Florida. The voucher amount is less than the cost of the private school I went to as a kid in the early '90's. Tuition is obviously higher now.

[r9etb]

You got it. The voucher-taking schools will be able to offer lower tuitions, because the voucher will make up the difference. The non-voucher schools will have to charge full freight.

If that were really an issue, there would be no private schools in existence today. After all, the public schools are free!

If a family is willing to pay full freight at a private school vs. a free public school, on the basis of their concerns about education, then they would be just as willing to pay full freight vs. a voucherized school which offered a substandard education.

[goodieD]

Yes, because I know of many private schools that don't offer those at all. We aren't talking about colleges here, those are the ones that offer the type of assistance you're talking about.

[Austin Willard Wright]

I am skeptical of vouchers, however, the Supreme Court decision (which merely gives the states the power to experiment) was entirely right.

[FreeTally]

Letme explain how it is in Florida.

Will vouchers be only available to lower-income students?

Not in Florida. The school has to receive a "failing grade" for two consecutive years. Then, all students are elligible. Florida has a seperate "voucher" type program for low-income children.

Will private schools be the able to "opt out" of having to recieve vouchers?

No voucher plan makes any private school accept them. No voucher plan will. It would not be legal.

Will any school recieving vouchers be forced to hire government-approved teachers, including homosexuals?

Not in Florida. The Constitution and State laws give private schools much leway. In addition, the voucher goes to the parent - not the school. Florida's program does have some language that has made mant private schools "not interested".

Who's going to be put in charge of watchdogging non-government schools who accept vouchers?

The same people who do now - no one.

[Slyfox]

Most private schools I know have teachers and parents who are making a considerable sacrifice to do what they do. A teacher in a private school is willingly making less than a public school teacher. I can't imagine they'd be willing to chase around a voucher if it means they'd have to lower their standards.

The government had better not make voucher acceptance mandatory.