Vouchers

About seven years ago I worked with a woman who was very suspicious of vouchers.  She said they sound good, but she did not trust the spirit with which they were being pushed.  I agreed with her at the time and only just recently realized why.

Vouchers give people an opportunity to send their child to a private school if they feel their local public school doesn't serve their child well.  However, the money offered through the voucher program doesn't really offer opportunity.  The independent schools where I taught cost around $25, 000 per year.  The voucher program will not pay for that.  What then is being offered?  Further, the problem with vouchers is that they work to blame the schools where supposed learning is not occurring while not actually doing anything to improve said schools.  Public education is a part of what makes this country great.  But if we allow that right to evaporate, what then will our children have in the future?

Higher education is the path to a better future for us all.  If we fail to address the problems that plague public schools, we fail as a nation.  Stupidity is not going to solve the gas crisis, or global warming, or war.  We should urge our representatives to put money in education.  That means helping poor students and giving them a school where they feel safe.  It means getting them food.  It means providing healthcare to them.  A couple thousand dollars a year in vouchers can't fix the problems that schools face.