We need a Dem to support vouchers NOW!

[craigfarmer]

Will any Democrat be the first?



Each year Democratic politicians and "progressive thinkers" contort logic and facts to find ways to oppose school vouchers and other market-place reforms in education. As a true liberal, a newliberal, it is disheartening to see our party not only missing a great opportunity, but in fact being the main obstacle to "progress". It is my firmly held view that many Republicans offer rhetorical support for these types of reforms because it gives them a chance to appear compassionate and solution-oriented. Since they control all of the Federal government, and many state governments, they could demand the reforms, just as they have done with their tax-cut plans. However, with a few exceptions, market-place reforms in education have simply become an effective talking point.

To my fellow Democrats:

The measure of an educational system should be determined by each parent in respect to their own child. Group statistics and overall budget debates aren't meaningful to an American parent who simply wants the best possible education for their young ones. As a party we should:

1. sponsor a Constitutional Amendment to guarantee a quality education to every American child.

2. give every parent in America ( the Average money spent per child in the state) a check to be used at any legitimate school (home, private, religious, public)

3. transform all public schools into local charter schools run by the PTA. They would have the power to control the school's curriculum, hours, staff, etc.

4. change the government's role at the local, state, and federal level from micro-managing the operation into guaranteeing access and exposing fraud.

This will be unbelievably COSTLY. That's why it will take the Democratic party who believe in using the government to better society to do it.

The typical alternatives of "elites" trying to decide:

bigger class size v. smaller

uniforms v. no uniforms

how much arts and physical education

how long for the school day

which curriculum

which and how much testing

etc.

This should and must end ASAP. No centrally planned system can compete with a well-defined market-place. This has been proven throughout history, and is the reason why the USA is the greatest country on earth. The well-meaning people in the educational establishment will always have a reform that "could" work, but what they don't realize is that in fact our current public school system can never work as presently constituted.

There are millions of parents who each have their idea of what a good school is for their child. We should use tax money to offer them the choice to find the school they prefer, or create their own.

Who will be the first democratic candidate to win?



Craig Farmer

making the word "liberal" safe again!

 

[FallingPianos]

1. sponsor a Constitutional Amendment to guarantee a quality education to every American child.

sounds good.

2. give every parent in America ( the Average money spent per child in the state) a check to be used at any legitimate school (home, private, religious, public)

this opens up a big problem. what is a "legitimate" school? who decides what a legitimate school is?

3. transform all public schools into local charter schools run by the PTA. They would have the power to control the school's curriculum, hours, staff, etc.

at the elementry school level, I think this would be fine. at higher levels I think its necessary to make it law that all teachers have a college degree in the subject they are teaching, as well as a teaching degree. the teachers then should be the ones primarily concerned with making the curriculum, otherwise it would become too political. think of all the political problems we currently have with sex ed, and evolution. giving the pta all the power to decide the curriculum would only make that worse.

4. change the government's role at the local, state, and federal level from micro-managing the operation into guaranteeing access and exposing fraud.

I definatly agree on the federal level, but I think the more local it gets, the more control the government should have. but I cant really debate your point without having a more specific idea of what you meant by "micro-managing"

 

[tryreading]

Will any Democrat be the first?

The voucher system was used here in Florida until recently when the Florida Supreme Court declared it un-Constitutional because many of the vouchers were being used to send kids to religious schools. I agree with them. Taxpayer money can not be used to support religion.

If there were a viable plan to privatize the school systems, if such a plan would provide education superior to the current level, then maybe that's the right direction. Like you suggest, private industry can perform better than public instutitions in many areas. But no plan can involve paying public money to religious schools.

I have typically voted Democrat in the past, but can't be a member of either party right now-neither is constructive or honest.