Karate for Kids

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

THE TIME IS NOW FOR SCHOOL CHOICE.

Economist Poll Indicates Widespread Support for Vouchers
A full 53 percent of Americans support the idea of school vouchers, compared to only 32 percent who oppose vouchers and 16 percent who are unsure, according to a new poll released today by The Economist.

It is has been far too long that poorer families in poorer neighborhoods are forced to send their children to a below average, secular, sometimes violent public schools. We need a President who will aggresively use his "bully pulpit" to further school choice.

In case someone is out there who does not know what school choice is, school choice is the idea of either giving parents vouchers or tax credits so that the Parents can choose what school to send their children to. This instead of the long, tired, failed system where you are forced to send your child to the nearest school, no matter how bad it is. This failed system benefits the rich who can afford to live in great neighborhoods and therefore get to send their kids to very nice schools. While at the same time the poor families get to send their kids to bad schools. The poorer families get NO CHOICE while the rich families get to send their kids to the best schools.

It needs to be noted, No Democratic Presidential Candidate is for School Choice, period.

Homeschoolers should also get the voucher or tax credit as well.

I live in Illinois and me and my wife have chosen the homeschooling path.

In Illinois, you enjoy the freedom to shape your school day and your curriculum for your children's specific needs and talents. Illinois government does not require testing, evaluation, or special oversight.

The LESS government intrusion on education the better.

Let's give Parents TRUE CHOICE and let the PARENTS DECIDE where to send their kids to school.

VOTE YES ON SCHOOL CHOICE WHEREVER YOU LIVE.

Jimbo

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The key sentence in this posting is "The LESS government intrusion on education the better." The trick is to allow school choice without allowing the government to take control of private schools. Otherwise, you only succeed in turning the private schools into public schools.

In Illinois, we have a system that works pretty well. Each family is allowed a $500 tax credit toward certain educational expenses. For the most part, this allows the family to choose a school without government interference. Two problems with this system: (1) the restrictions pretty much eliminate all homeschoolers from using the credit, and (2) I pay $8,000 per student per year for private school tuition - a $500 credit is a drop in the bucket.

Of course, Democrats will never support school choice for two reasons: (1) they are beholden to the teachers' unions, and (2) they believe government is better able to handle this responsibility and that it is parents who intrude into the educational process. Giving parents more control would go against there nature.