1DE, Albino, FOL, CB, whoever.

[-Carnifex-]

Can anyone explain vouchers to me fairly indepthly or tell me some unbaised source I could read about them?

[Collegeboy]

Re: 1DE, Albino, FOL, CB, whoever.

Originally posted by -Carnifex-
Can anyone explain vouchers to me fairly indepthly or tell me some unbaised source I could read about them?

I will be the first to say I do not understand either side of this debate. So I would be interested in hearing information too. (But I do think that most of the opinions here will be for them )

[theraidenproject]

I'm in favor. I go to private school, so it would directly save my parents money, which means more for ME!!!!!!

[p8ntball1016]

I'm against vouchers. They take funding away from public schools, directly affecting the quality of education of students in those schools.

[-Carnifex-]

I don't care where you stand. I want to know what exactly they are; I have a vague understanding.

[Python14]

The idea of a voucher is simple. Lets say the public school or schools in your area are severely lacking. Instead of letting your child suffer in a hell-hole for a school, you can get a voucher from your School system for $x and use it towards paying for schooling elsewhere(private).

I'm not gonna say whether or not I support it because really, there are too many pros and cons for a young person like myself to weigh.

[-Carnifex-]

So instead of paying for every school in the state I could just place my money in one school?

[Python14]

Sort of. You still pay taxes towards every school in the state, but now, you get school choice.

[-Carnifex-]

So basically I take money out of my current school and use it as a scholarship to go to a private school?

[p8ntball1016]

Yes. And the only drawback is that you are screwing over students in public schools.

[theraidenproject]

Originally posted by p8ntball1016
And the only drawback is that you are screwing over students in public schools.

But what happens when someone is locked into going to a bad school and vouchers for a private school are their only way of getting a decent education? And even for the people with better situations, they should get some of their own money back.

[Albinonewt]

Here's the deal with vouchers.

The basic Premise is that public money is diverted from a failing public school to a student to go to a private school on the tax payer's buck. There are decent arguements for and against the program.

For:

The basic arguement for the program is that vouchers get kids out of failing public schools give them a chance to get a decent education. For that reason it is a good program and does help the students that benefit from it. Basically the arguement is if a public school isn't getting the job done why keep the kids in it. The other main arguement is that the teacher's unions don't care about students, only about themselves (by themselves I mean the unions, not the actual teachers)

Against:

The money should be going into the school system and paying to fix the system. Also that paying for some kids to get out of failing system while not others is unfair and the government shouldn't favor some kids over others.

Overall both arguements are pretty valid and I don't really disagree with either. The fundamental problem I have with the public schools is that the unions are absolutly destroying public education. We spend more per student then just about any other developed nation and perform poorly in almost all areas. Obviously the system is broken and needs to be fixed. However, at this point putting more money into it isn't the answer. The system needs reform, not just more money. In lieu of reform I support vouchers as a stop gap, not as a solution. I would prefer to see the problems fixed, but even if reform were to begin (the no child left behind act is a beginning, but not a solution) it would not be overnight. And although I don't like saving some kids and condemning others, I really hate condemning them all. So I choose to save some rather then none.

[Koosh]

I also don't know where to stand.

Sure it helps individual kids "get out" of a bad public school (I guess I only went to good public schools, I never saw a need for it), but what happens to the rest of them? Is it worth 20 "bad" kids for every 10 "good" ?(Notice the quotes, it just represents public vs private)

But hey... if we get kids out of public schools that would help lower class sizes... so then the teacher would only have to deal with less kids, more one on one time may help improve the school.

So I think I'll leave the thinking to people smarter then me on this issue...

[Kai]

MASSIVE education reform is the only way to go...

[FactsOfLife]

Originally posted by Kai
MASSIVE education reform is the only way to go...

I'd agree with that. Needs to be a whole hell of a lot more accountability in the system than there is now.