The list of 141 Programs Bush wants to cut or eliminate for 2007 budge

[Justice 0]

Fine...if we can't privatize it, what about a voucher system where each child gets money attached to them every year, and schools have to compete to recruit that child if they want the money? (If that makes sense).

 

I just think we need to run schools more like businesses and less like inefficient socialist-style institutions.

 

No. Vouchers are a bullshit system in general.

 

1) Vouchers aren't enough for a poor child to make it into a semi-passable private school. In Michigan, a voucher is something around 500-800 dollars (At least, when it was proposed). Many private schools cost around 2000 and above. That's not counting other things, like uniforms, books... There is little chance for it to work for anyone who really needs to get out of those schools. It just stratifies it even more.

 

2) Vouchers are abused by private schools, as is 'headcount funding' (Funding schools via how many people they have). What happens is that they accept a multitude of people that they might not normallly (Problem students, etc.) and then, after the voucher money (Or headcount money, in D-Town's case) is assigned and shored up, they kick out the problem students, netting them a free profit while sending them back down to public school.

 

The problem with schools is beyond money. It's the social culture that is being bred in inner-cities that needs to be stopped, one where respect towards teachers and education is lost because of a lack of necessity (Basic necessities begin to trump things like education for young adults) and the breakdown of the family culture in the inner city (And, one could argue, in general).

 

Also, arguably, there is no incentive for good families in general to stick around in the inner-city. The reason we have so many problems is that the good people inevitably get out and never return, only leaving the people who couldn't get out (Whether it be because of intenlligence, drive, or what have you) stay there, have kids just like them, and continue the cycle. If, by chance, they have good kids, they'll get out and not come back. If we want to fix the education problem (Among others), we need to truly need to dedicate ourselves to fixing the inner cities. We need to give it proper funding, and put good fucking politicians up there (Like Dennis Archer, NOT like Coleman Young or fucking Kwame 'Bling-Bling' Kilpatrick) who honestly want to do something good for their city rather than stealing from it.

 

Wow, that's basically everything I learned as a suburban kid constantly visiting my mom's schools. And this isn't me; this is the teachers there telling me this. And after being there, I really do believe them.

 

And people always call me the hardcore conservative guy...