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Politics : Al Gore vs George Bush: the moderate's perspective -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: epicure who wrote (3363)	10/21/2000 9:11:57 PM
From: fuzzymath	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10042

X, I don't know if my sister is for vouchers. That's a question I'll ask her next time I see her. Schools that are "underperforming because of the demographics" are not necessarily bad schools. I see your point. To be relevant, testing has to consider the starting point, not just the test results. Doing this is very difficult. You are correct: those who have their kids in private schoole will benefit at the expense of the public schools. You have to let this happen if you want a government that treats all people equally. You want an egalitarian society. The rich kids that surrounded my kids in private school didn't need a voucher to send their kids to that school. We made a huge sacrifice in so many areas to send our kids. Then, when we home schooled, it meant that my wife could not have a full-time job. A $2500 voucher per kid would have helped offset (minimally, at least) the loss we suffered in keeping my wife home to teach the kids. I see your points in so many ways. Do you see mine at all? It's not an easy question. The dogmatic "NO VOUCHERS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES" posture clearly oversimplifies the problem, doesn't it? You are talking about class divisions -- which are real. I'm thinking of vouchers helping by giving schools a reason to make themselves stand out in some way -- perhaps one school will excel at science and another in social studies. This wouldn't solve the class problem -- but wouldn't it create better choices for parents and children even in the underperforming school districts. I am very much in favor of the Bush (both George in Texas and Jeb in Florida) initiatives to guarantee a place in the state universities to the top students in every school district. This is surely a very egalitarian approach, isn't it? Gore's not saying this, Bush has put it into practice in Texas. It bothers me when people say the Democrats care most about the poor and disadvantaged -- because I think today the Republicans are trying to find new solutions, while the Democrats are offering more of what didn't work. I was very liberal at one time. It didn't seem to solve the problems, to me. The parents who care are probably already helping in the schools. These things can't be forced by the government. Write again, please! Kevin