Obama campaigned on a “new era of responsibility” where one will not be beholden to special interests or lobbyists. The fawning media has incorrectly labeled him a “pragmatist”, when he is anything but. A pragmatist would recognize and address the issues facing our failing public schools, wouldn’t he?It is well known government entities are the most inefficient form of doing business. Just as the DPS could care less how long you wait to renew a driver’s license in person, there is very little accountability in the public schools. And the Teachers’ Unions love this. They have lobbied for years against performance-based pay incentives and school vouchers, which are crucial for increasing educational accountability.
The past five years, Washington D.C. has attempted to address their failing school problem with an experiment in school vouchers. This will allow for a family to receive funding for their child for the private school of their choice. Not only does this give the child an opportunity for a true education, it also creates competition between schools vying for the potential tuition.
The five-year-old, federally funded voucher program serves about 1,800 schoolchildren...80 percent of whom are African-American, from homes with an average family income of $23,000 a year. The program spends just $7,500 per student, about half the per-pupil allocation for the local public school system.
But, Obama has taken that famous scalpel of his to the $410 billion omnibus spending bill, and they have removed the amendment which would allow for 1 more year of funding for the D.C program.
“The president doesn't believe that vouchers are a long-term answer to our educational problems and the challenges that face our public school system, where the vast majority of -- of students are educated in this country,” says Obama's swarthy salesman, Robert Gibbs.
Yes, $18 million is too much for an isolated voucher experiment that could pioneer a new era of education…..but we can give it to John Murtha’s airport instead? So much for our “hip” new prez, huh? Where's the "nuanced debate" and open mindedness?Government is not hip and cool…it is an antiquated and inefficient dinosaur and has proven it cannot run an cutting edge school system. But since the pols want ultimate control and need to maintain their power through the unions, we may never know just how effective the voucher program can be.
Now, let's watch Obama tackle our "failing" colleges......
2 comments:
Wayne,
Although I agree with you on most issues, I do not agree with your stance on education vouchers. Being a public school educator, I have a little insight into this issue. While public schools in Texas are held accountable through the use of state-wide standards (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills), as well as standardized testing (TAKS), private schools and charter schools are not required to use either of these measures for accountability. In fact, there are often very few ways these schools are held accountable. Nearly every educator will agree that there needs to be a complete overhaul of the standardized testing system (i.e. ditch No Child Left Behind), but at least some forms of accountability exist in public schools. This is not to say that no great private schools exist, but just attending a private school or charter school does not by any means guarantee a good education. Class sizes may be smaller, but how can parents be sure their children are being taught all of the standards they should be, if they are not sure standards are even being used? Why don't we fix existing problems in public schools instead of ignoring them by placing students in charter and private schools (which may not even be a better option)?
Love ya, Wayne!
Amy
I suppose they could always legislate that those schools which accept government subsidized vouchers are held under the same accountability in regard to standardized testing.
Thanks for the comment, Amy!
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