Tim:

Every voucher proposition I have seen proposed on the ballot in CA has been flawed becasue no one can tell us where these parents will send their kids when private schools see demand increasing and raise prices...

No one can tell us where kids will go to school if the public schools see those types of cuts in funding to pay for the voucher program and have to raise prices.

I think it's shameful that we have poorly funded and poor performing schools in America, which is why I'm in support of NCLB becuase since the passage of federal accountability standards, we have seen increases in poor and minority test scores, which is awesome.

I agree that people in public positions that oversee the public education system should send their kids to public schools, but like anything else, if their constituency that votes them in doesn't seem to mind that they send their kids to private schools, than who am I to say that its wrong.

Tim, Do you support a voucher program in any shape or form? I just think there are other ways to improve education.

Wisconsin has a pretty successful voucher pilot program... Maybe, we can get some info on this program and see why it's successful in another blog topic.

Scott

Oh, one other thing. I don't think it's right just to dismiss a source as biased. Most papers are biased to some degree because most people are biased to some degree or another.

A famous ploy politicians use is to dismiss the paper as biased when they don't like what is being said instead of debating the material facts and addressing the issue.

In the spirit of debate, I think addressing the facts are important.

Scott

Scott,

There are school that are poor performing all across the country, and kids are locked into these schools every day of their young lives.

Drug use, risks of violence and lack of adult supervision abound. MANY of these homes have just one parent, and so these kids have no where to go, no help with homework and many other issues that put these kids at risk.

When the school fails them too, it's really society that fails them, because these are our schools. The public schools MUST empower these kids to a better future through education, even though many of these kids come from cultures and environments that actually support the very politics and leadership that keep them locked into these schools.

So what to do...?

Hold local schools and districts accountable by insisting they create plans to advance student achievement.

Open charter schools that insist on parental involvement and support, and allow kids to transfer into these schools.

In other words, Scott, I am pro-choice on this issue.

This is a HUGE issue, and I am sure these won't be the last entires on this subject.

Tim Keaney

Here is another take from the Sunday Daily News Editorial Page:

Chartered flight
Parents prefer what nontraditional schools offer

Charter school enrollment in California has exploded over the past two years, a sign that parents are desperate for solutions to the public school fiasco.

Trouble is, the education establishment doesn't want to pay much attention to this trend, especially in Los Angeles, where school district unions and administrators try hard to ignore the glaring fact that charters are extremely popular with parents and growing numbers of teachers.

According to the California Charter School Association, there are 574 charter schools in the state - 86 just within the LAUSD, 20 more than the year before. At this rate, by 2012, 20 percent of all public school students will be enrolled in charter schools, maybe even more.

Parents clearly favor this brand of small, intimate education that involves them over the consistent failures of the traditional classroom.

It behooves educators such as those at the LAUSD to take charters seriously. And it would be a start to offer more than the $50 million they've set aside for charters out of the $4 billion bond they're asking voters to approve next month.

Tim:

I agree in a total revitalization of schools in the inner city before I would ever support a voucher program. During the previous administration, the feds created business enhancement zones in places like Harlem to revitalize the economy and promote the rebirth of the Harlem renaissance. Major gains have been made in certain poorer areas, but not enough has been accomplished.

Prior to his assassination, Senator Robert F. Kennedy was heavily involved in revitalizing inner city areas around the concept of self-help and empowerment. He met with gang leaders, local businessmen, civic leaders and developed programs to improve the community's like Harlem in New York. He turned negatives into positives. Robert Kennedy insisted that this community empowerment program be built without government funding because he wanted it to be successful even if government funding got cut. I think this is a blueprint to follow rather than a voucher program.

These community's can rebuild themselves and the education system through building a community consensus and cleaning up the streets of crime and drugs. Just like you say we are all the feds, I would say we are all the schools. Schools can improve with leadership and the introductions of charter schools, which statistics have shown actually improve performance of public schools.

I believe in Charter schools like KIPP and organically recreating schools like what is going on at Crenshaw High school, but I feel vouchers would just encourage busing programs and undermine what could be accomplished in people's own neighborhoods.

This can be seen in the 1996 welfare reform act. Look at all the parents who now take a bus for two hours to work as a custodian in the wealthier areas where their are jobs? Vouchers would further accentuate this family destruction.

Tim, would you support a voucher program that would allow full busing of kids from the inner city to Simi Valley schools?

I just don't think kids should have to sit on a bus for three hours to go to school and I think this would further damage the cohesiveness of their family.

I have to give you credit for supporting vouchers though. Recent, statistics have shown that schools are much more segregated now than they were prior to 1954's landmark Brown versus Board of education, which desegregated the schools. Vouchers would certainly integrate the schools and allow student in the inner city who go to poor performing schools to go to schools in places like Westlake and Simi Valley.

Scott

Tim,

I like the Wall Street Journal, just not the editorial page much.

And I like the Star, but not their editorial pages very much.

T

As long as you can identify the bias, I don't see anything wrong with any paper's editorials. You just need to answer the why question. Why is this person writing this? Is it to inform? Is it to attack?

Once you identify that simple question, you realize objectitivity is really non-existant.

Scott