Vouchers

  • Providing all citizens, including poor and minority families, the same choice of schools that their wealthier neighbors enjoy would be a better example of  ‘social justice’ than many of the alleged education equity programs being forced on the taxpayer.  Allowing the taxed dollar that funds government-run schools to follow the child to any school of their choosing, including private schools, is the moral thing to do when the government-run schools are failing, are not meeting the educational needs of an individual child, or whose teachings are in conflict with a family's values.   No parent who is forced to pay a tax for public education should be stuck with no other options. Although I favor the end of a forced tax to support and assign families to government-run schools, at a minimum, and as a step in the right direction, I would like to see vouchers (also labeled an "education savings account" or a "tuition tax savings account") provided to families that are at least proportional to the state's funding allotment to cover the costs of a student to attend the local public school that student is assigned too based on the families address.  Vouchers give parents a little more freedom, and more opportunities to find the best educational experience for their child.  Remember, our government cannot give to anybody anything the government does not first take from somebody else.  The critics of vouchers, who claim such a policy will harm the public school system because it takes money away from that system, favor systems and monopolies over the individual rights of the people who fund that government monopoly.