Alpe d'Huez said:It's also been debated over and over for many years by the so called right that public schools and teachers need to compete with private ones, and the way to do that is to remove funding from public schools in the form of vouchers for parents to send their children to private schools of their choice. Of course the first people to collect that money will be the wealthy people already sending their kids to private school. This also would obviously result in a large financial hit for public schools on top of what they're already dealing with, the result of which obviously would be the poor and working class having even less practical access to education, while the wealthy get the best education available.
Personally, I have concerns with the vouchers. If you have your children in private school - and I know a lot of "low middle class" parents who do - it seems like it is not fair to pay taxes for someone else's education and get no help for your own kids, however, it there are several concerns that I end up considering. First, most private schools have costs that exceed their tutition which means they need donors to make up the difference. If the vouchers go to pay for the tuition it is likely that those large donors will not see the need to assist. Second, concern is that if you are looking for an educational system that is not obligated to the government to present a particular outlook (I am thinking religion classes here on parochial schools). A third concern is that there is less accountability with the private system, I have seen schools that consist of a parent (with little to no education) teaching their child - sometimes this works out fine, other times it does not.
Alpe d'Huez said:Once again, I just don't understand the "conservative" mantra that competition is good for everything. As if punishing people financially (and in education, health care, etc.) and stressing them even further is going to somehow make them motivated to be more intelligent, gifted, or physically work harder - like the middle class workers are somehow not working hard enough already for their money.
Having been around conservatives most of my life in school and work. Although I am sure that some somewhat radical type neoconservatives have suggested privatizing public education, I have not heard any claim made by any of those I know. What I have heard is a desire to insure children are getting enough teacher time and special attention to excel in their classes, along with the push for prayer in school, something I am not a support of outside of personal/non-school supported activities.
Alpe d'Huez said:Agree though that there is way too much emphasis on sports. It's almost like a cottage industry. Even the NCAA is a set-up for sports entertainment.
I am ok with NCAA sports myself, but school seem to easily forget what their primary goal is with student athletes.