Comments on: Educating Joe http://meganedwards.com/2008/10/educating-joe/ A Writer in Las Vegas Fri, 31 Jul 2009 02:43:53 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: megan http://meganedwards.com/2008/10/educating-joe/comment-page-1/#comment-1134 megan Wed, 22 Oct 2008 04:25:26 +0000 http://meganedwards.com/?p=220#comment-1134 Flight from neighborhood schools is certainly one possible effect of a voucher system -- if private schools accept the vouchers. I just wanted to point out the less well-known attitude of a many well-established private schools. They're old hands at fund raising, they're already cherry-picking the best students, and they will not accept government money if it threatens their admissions policies. There's no doubt some private schools would figure out a way to accept vouchers, but there would be no guarantee that their programs would be better than those already available. Rather than creating an atmosphere of "healthy competition," I think they would suck much-needed funding away from the schools left with the students you've described. And, as you put it so well, you are already working too hard trying to solve daunting social problems. I think charter and magnet schools offer more possibilities. As an educator, do you? Flight from neighborhood schools is certainly one possible effect of a voucher system — if private schools accept the vouchers. I just wanted to point out the less well-known attitude of a many well-established private schools. They’re old hands at fund raising, they’re already cherry-picking the best students, and they will not accept government money if it threatens their admissions policies.

There’s no doubt some private schools would figure out a way to accept vouchers, but there would be no guarantee that their programs would be better than those already available. Rather than creating an atmosphere of “healthy competition,” I think they would suck much-needed funding away from the schools left with the students you’ve described. And, as you put it so well, you are already working too hard trying to solve daunting social problems. I think charter and magnet schools offer more possibilities. As an educator, do you?

]]> By: Tiffany Hendrix http://meganedwards.com/2008/10/educating-joe/comment-page-1/#comment-1132 Tiffany Hendrix Wed, 22 Oct 2008 03:36:55 +0000 http://meganedwards.com/?p=220#comment-1132 I've always thought vouchers would cause a flight from the neighborhood schools, leaving us public-education practitioners with the poorest of the poor whose parents don't care, making us more like social-workers than we are already. I’ve always thought vouchers would cause a flight from the neighborhood schools, leaving us public-education practitioners with the poorest of the poor whose parents don’t care, making us more like social-workers than we are already.

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