One interesting possibility would be to have vouchers worth approximately
the cost of a public education,
but not allow voucher-accepting schools to charge anything but
what they get from the voucher. That way we wouldn't be subsidizing
those who want and can afford a much more expensive education, but
would allow for the possibility that private schools could provide
a better education at the same cost.
I'm not sure where I stand on this issue, though. I know,
fairly directly, of a case in which a kid was having nightmares
because of the stuff he was being told in a Christian preschool
(burning in hell, etc..);
when the parents took him out of that school because of that and
other concerns about the quality of the education, the school
sicced the child-abuse authorities on the parents. (Not saying
this is typical of Christian schools, of course.) I could imagine
that a rapid proliferation of private schools could increase the
incidence of such stuff.
I wouldn't be surprised if some kids have to suffer in pretty
low-grade schools either because their parents just don't care,
or because they put some hardcore version of religion ahead of
a decent education. Probably not too prevalent, but I'd guess
it would happen. There would be standards, of course, but they
could be hard to enforce. |
