@Ron_C ”The way that republicans deal with is insist on school vouchers. That insures that their kid are well educated and it kills the public school.” There lays one of the largest detriments to vouchers, people do not really understand them, they believe it leaves the rich in better schools at the sake of the poor.
The wealthy already have better schools even if they are public because they have more tax revenue in their districts. Those really wealthy send there kids to private schools. Why are most private schools better than public? The answer is not too hard to find, aside from the money (and that is a large part) private schools can afford the best talent when it comes to educators. They can pay teachers and professors what the public end even in districts with money could ever hope to match. Private schools can give their teachers a better deal on incentives, retirement, benefits, etc.
Putting all the cash in one big educational pool would float as well as a petrified log chained to 3 battle ship anchors; it was liked with health care and it would not be liked for education. Joe Blow out there busting his hump working 65 hour weeks to keep food on the table and a roof over head will only see that his hard earned money is not going to making his kid’s school that much better but that extra money is being given to the kid of some welfare mom so he can have better books a new chem. Lab and a take home laptop. In this great benevolent charity and good natured sharing only goes so far, and usually not when one believes something is being taken from them and given to someone who has not earned it.
Vouchers done right is the only way to go. To make vouchers work every school has to use them, public and private. Don’t attaché the money to the district (which we see don’t work) attach the money to the child. If that is done it really makes no difference where the child lives because the areas income potential is taken out of the equation. Now schools can’t just cruise along but they have to get better in every area if they want to compete. If you have school Big Bucks, school Working Stiff, school Boring, and school Wrong Side of The Tracks all going to vouchers and school Big Bucks and Boring did no changes while school Wrong Side of The Tracks made changes to have a smarter more exciting curriculum geared to college prep and school Working Stiff axed their poor performing and uninspiring teachers for better teachers who could motivate students better as well as did some modernization now that the kids and their families have a choice many who might have gone to school Big Bucks or Boring will now desire to get into Wrong Side of The Tracks because the course work is not only more exciting but also geared to college prep. What would that do for Wrong Side of The Tracks? Garner them more revenue, because their enrollment ranks will swell, bring in more money because the money is attached to the child and not the district. Wrong Side of The Tracks can hire more teachers, invest in more school infrastructure. Instead of having a school get crammed with more and more students and having to stretch X amount of dollars between them or go begging the state for more money the student population will take care of that and cut out the mucky mucks in Sacramento (or whatever state you are in capital). If school Boring did not respond, make their class work better they will see the money dry up as families moved their kids to better schools. Healthy competition will not only cause all schools to get better because they have to compete for the students but those better schools will attract better talent which in turn will attract more students which in turn generate more cash for the school.
Will there still be poor schools? We have many cell phone providers and not all are grate but people for whatever reason still purchase the service because maybe they could not get into other service. Same with fueling stations, you see 3 surrounding one intersection and the one with the better deal for a particular customer will get that customer. Maybe a person will go to the station that charges 4 cent more a gallon because the service is better. Maybe people go to the lousy station that is not as modern or clean because they can get their gas for 5 cents less a gallon. Vouchers will not eliminate all lousy schools (at least not right away) but it will make all schools up their game and the kids can’t help but benefit from that.