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Monday, September 26, 2005
Okay, Okay, Let’s Talk About Vouchers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I swore I wouldn’t post about the partisan issue of public vouchers for private schools unless a policy were headed for Georgia. Now U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings has drawn fire for her pledge to offer vouchers worth up to $7,500 for displaced Katrina kids to attend private schools.
Said Spellings in this recent speech, “This was a hurricane that affected every family, including those in private school. And the president believes, as do I, that we should not penalize those families because they chose to select private schools.”
So let’s go ahead and talk about vouchers:
Is this a benevolent gesture or a test case for a federal voucher program? And in the case of a more widespread future voucher policy, would competition from vouchers push public schools to improve? Or would such a policy flood private schools with applications for students unqualified for admission? Would a network of “voucher schools” spring up in the marketplace to accommodate the flood of kids? Would vouchers give parents an escape from failing public schools? Or would vouchers further doom public schools by leaving only the kids who do not have parents advocating on their behalf?
Update: Blog poster Ernest suggests I post a link to NEA President Reg Weaver’s response to the Katrina/voucher policy. Here it is.
Cross Blogination Alert: Go here for a blog discussion on schools being closed today.
