A few thoughts on vouchers...

[jsbowden]

Serious ones this time.

School vouchers are a non-starter. Period. The public schools people want to send their kids to are already full, charter schools are a joke foisted on the poor, no private school with even a moderately competent lawyer will go anywhere near them and most already have waiting lists anyway, and govt. money being funneled into religious schools isn't going to stand up to Constitutional scrutiny.

I love a good voucher debate. It's a pointless exercise in watching kooks of various flavors fighting with each other. If I could just find a way to sell tickets...

Comments

[publius1.livejournal.com]

"no private school with even a moderately competent lawyer will go anywhere near them and most already have waiting lists anyway," -- is this due to fear of regulation? Because it WOULD be come A Thing, if they really took off.

I believe the Supreme Court has already said that school vouchers are fine, even in religious circumstances. I can look it up, if you're interested.

[jsbowden.livejournal.com]

Fear of regulation is precisely it. The minute you start taking federal and state funds all those rulings and regulations come with them.

And really, any private school worth paying for already has a wait list of people the school will consider more desirable. They don't need to accept them, and letting the poor into their schools is anathema.

[publius1.livejournal.com]

I think in large part you are correct about this. However, there are some cases, especially Catholic schools in big urban areas, where this actually isn't the case. Some Catholic schools cater to the poor, and probably wouldn't object very strenuously to government-subsidized funding.

[culfinriel.livejournal.com]

If I could just find a way to sell tickets...

Vouchers?

[terra-lily.livejournal.com]

If you really want to make the debate explode, point out that the structure of vouchers is effectively the structure behind Pell Grants -- which started the University arms race now responsible for students graduating with $200+k debt.