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To: Bill who wrote (16545)	7/3/2002 1:06:04 PM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 21057

The only thing on the table is A SECOND big government ed system that will be ADDED TO the EXISTING big government ed system...Vouchers are a great idea in concept, a rotten one in practice, given the political realities in this country. The notion of vouchers came about as a device to get around the direct state sponsorship of religious schools, which was deemed unconstitutional. There are several good things to be said about vouchers. Vouchers offer choice, which is something we generally value in this country. Vouchers also obviate the problem that most tax payers have to pay for the public schools and can't afford to pay twice, which is what it would take to send their kids to private schools. But the very best thing about vouchers is that is is the best chance to support religious schools constitutionally. As a result, the voucher approach is, as you say, the only one on the table. As a result, we find ourselves in the situation where vouchers have momentum. Vouchers are the holy grail. We are not thinking about how best to educate our kids but how to make vouchers happen. Advocates aren't considering any other options and they're not thinking ahead to how vouchers might play out down the road. I gave the Medicare example of how vouchers might play out. If that happened, it wouldn't be pretty. We don't know how vouchers will play out, for sure, because the voucher system will evolve over time, but we're still treating them as the holy grail. One of the reasons that private schools are successful is because they can cherry pick and because they have engaged parents who care about their kids' educations. Once vouchers are in full swing, will that be the case? Probably not. It's been a long time since I had any contact with the public school system, way back when I was a student. When I was a student, there were no kids there with ADD. There were no hoodlums. There were no disabled kids. None. They all went somewhere else or stayed behind closed curtains in the home. Over time there will be laws and regulations and court decisions involving private schools, decisions that put a lot of the same burdens on them that public schools have now and the performance gap will be closed. We know that will happen because it always happens. A case in point is the Federal bureaucracy vs. contracting out. Agencies contracted out because contractors didn't have all the regulatory weight that the bureaucracy has accumulated over time. And it worked OK for a while. But over time, government contractors have had to play by a lot of the same rules as the government supervisor does with civil servants. Anyone who thinks the same thing won't happen to vouchers is either not thinking it through or is wearing rose colored glasses. And unions. Does anyone think that we will be able to prevent private school teachers from unionizing? All you need is a majority of employees in a bargaining unit to opt for it. It may not happen all over, but it will happen in some school systems and could easily become a critical mass. Of course, it will take a generation or two before all this plays out and we realize that all we have accomplished is to let religious kids go to religious schools on the public dime as part of one of two big government education systems. We can't afford to lose another generation or two.

To: Bill who wrote (16545)	7/3/2002 1:29:38 PM
From: Lazarus_Long	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21057

The longest journey begins with a single step. If vouchers work well, more and more and more people will demand them. In response the public system will undoubtedly find ways to improve and it will probably survive. But it will be in a competitive situation and will not be able to slack off again. We will have TWO big government ed systems draining even more money than ever from our paychecks, with no improvement in educating our kids. You think people will voluntrily put their kids into a lousy public system?