Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: epicure who wrote (52148)	7/1/2002 4:53:31 PM
From: Original Mad Dog	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

If money is going to private schools that already exist than unless that money is "funny" money it will be coming from public school budgets- and all those kids already in private school will begin to draw money away from the public schools. Let's say it costs 15K a year to educate a kid in a school (the real number might be 10 or 20K, I don't know, but whatever it is the point is the same). If we give that 15K to the parent in the form of a voucher and tell the parent, pick out a school for your kid that in your opinion best meets your kid's needs, we (the state) will send the 15K to that school on your behalf. The school can be public, private, religious, or whatever, as long as it is accredited in some fashion to prevent outright fraud. Now let's assume that there is a net transfer of students to "private" schools (ones the government does not run) from "public" schools (ones the government owns and operates). That net transfer of students means that the "public" schools will need fewer teachers, fewer buildings, fewer superintendents, fewer administrators. That translates into less paid out in salaries, lunches, maintenance, etc. It's not "funny money"; the public schools would simply have fewer customers, fewer costs, and therefore will require less money. It's really just a matter of who controls the money that is already there. Now faced with that prospect, these public schools might actually have a pretty powerful incentive to improve their product so that the customers don't flee. Right now, if I think GM makes lousy cars I can buy a Toyota. But if I think the public schools do a lousy job of educating my kid, I have to either pay for them anyway and also for private school, or I have to move. Actually, when my oldest kid turned four several years back I lived in Chicago, and I was faced with exactly that choice. Fortunately for her, I moved.