I'd like to send my children to good private schools the same as more wealthy families do. I want smaller class size and more money spent on my and my neighborhood's children's educations. I want better teachers and more help for special needs children. I want some reform of our public schools.
But I'm strongly against publicly funded education vouchers.
Not because there are already good, more appropriate programs to help with special needs. Not because of the lax private school standards. Not because voucher funds are lower than good private school tuitions. Not because of cultural division concerns (fodder for another blog). Not because I don't want additional amounts of my taxes spent on the inevitable legal fights that would pursue. Not because competition is a free market tool and a serious misfit for government programs.
And finally, not because the 'additional' funds going into public schools (which represent a 'double funding' of per-child education by tax payers for those 5 years including for thousands of children that are now privately funded) are cut after 5 years.
(but those are enough)
I'm opposed because it's bigger government and a sloppy solution.
The trick is to keep government power in check. There are a lot of ways in which public education under and oversteps its bounds today which is a large reason home (and what about them anyway?) and private schools are attractive in the first place. A voucher program only broadens the government's power as its money and influence flows more and more broadly. It's another government office with more government employees, politics, corruption etc.
If we must pursue a sloppy solution then let's look at giving tax breaks to families and groups who seek education elsewhere. Why pay into a system that only devalues the money and routes it back?
Look; education is not a natural right. Its funding and oversight by our government is unnatural and misplaced in a perfect world. It is necessary in our not-so-perfect world because our advanced and unnatural (civilization is not a state of nature) society is complex, fragile and difficult to understand without help. Without mandatory, regulated, 'free' education, we would face mobs of confused reformists and law-breakers of every persuasion just as many third world countries do today because enough of us would choose not to or not be able to educate ourselves and/or our children.
We've given our government a great amount of power by letting them provide our education in exchange for guarantees of a stable, safe and educated land in which to pursue our happiness. If our government is failing us, then we the people should see that the problems are properly fixed. Home and private schools as replacements for public schools are band aids. They represent masses of people running from the problem. If a dam is unstable, moving the town to higher ground is an expensive, sloppy, lazy solution with bad consequences. Why encourage it? Why not act like a civilization and band together to repair the damn thing?
Enough said. ... but I continue...
In my opinion, we've only allowed private and home schools in place of public schools because we've lost sight of the reasons for those public schools. If public schools are failing to teach the necessities then they should be fixed with a stern hand. If public schools are teaching too much (sex ed), then the people should modify the curriculum. If public schools are dangerous then discipline should be restored (I got swats in school and I'm fine. Get over it!). Families and social groups that desire advanced education should hire tutors to augment public education.
If those things just can't happen, then at least a better way to run from the problem would be the tax breaks I mentioned above. Vouchers are the wrong answer even if we decide on a lazy approach.
Let's not hear ourselves selfishly saying "oh goody! More for me!" Let's see ourselves unselfishly deciding what's best for the society based on the structure and needs of our civilization.
Remember; it's not about 'us' it's about our neighbors. Ponder THAT.
3 comments:
Instead of "fixing" the public education system...why not fix the "family" that believes public educators should teach EVERYTHING. I am a teacher and am SICK and TIRED of getting a new curriculum every week about something new to teach the children...that quite frankly I believe the parents should be teaching. I agree that the public system is horrible and needs help. But I also believe...some of that help has to come from the parents. It is not my job to disipline your child. It is not my job to teach sex ed. It is not my job to teach internet safety. It is not my job to teach your child character traits or manners. It's not even my job to teach your child how to act in public. It is not my job to teach your child accountability. It is not my job to teach your child the proper way to eat and what healthy foods are. I can help with all those things....but it is the parents job to teach their child. I will teach reading, math , science, language and history. And if I do a horrible job at all the other things....then blame the parents that are too lazy to do it themselves.
To sum up my frustrations.. The public system is failing because teachers are overworked. No one teaches anymore. The art and fun of teaching is gone. Now we are robots trying to cram 20 hours worth of instruction into 6. We are more concerned about test scores than the students progress. NCLB has made our greatest teachers into cheaters. If the child can't pass the test, then the teacher has no other choice then to tell the student the answer. If he/she doesn't ...they will lose their job. The one job that they wanted all their life. The job they worked so hard for in college. The one they dreamed about all their lives.
Teachers are no longer creative. We are told what to teach, when to teach it and exactly HOW to teach it. I have an entire bookshelf full of books that tell me EXACTLY what to say to the students...because it has been PROVEN to be effective in getting test results.
We can't fix the public education system until we make up our minds about what public education is. And put the accountability back onto the parents!
Exactly Anonymous! And if we could make that happen, parents would Want their children in public education.
I agree whole heartedly that the curriculum should be taken back to the basics, but I sometimes wonder if somewhere in there, a class entitled "The history and purpose of education" should not be mandatory"
Too many parents think its a baby sitting / child rearing service when it's really the glue of our civilization.
Yea! Thoughtful Utahns came through!
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