$100 Million Proposal Targets Low-Income Students
The Bush administration and Republican legislators yesterday proposed a $100 million national plan to offer low-income students private-school vouchers to escape low-performing public schools. The plan was immediately assailed by Democrats, unions and liberal advocacy groups.
The proposal comes four days after the independent research arm of the Department of Education issued a report showing that public schools are performing as well as or better than private schools, with the exception of eighth-grade reading, in which private schools excelled. The results prompted questions from foes of vouchers about why taxpayer money should go toward private schools instead of toward improving public schools. continued
I normally jump up and down with glee when the idea of vouchers is championed...on a state level. But the real question here is why is the federal government even in the business of education?? And if the feds do want a hand in this particular money (monkey?) business, why just vouchers for 'poor' students?? Why not vouchers available to all taxpaying parents to decide how & where they want their children educated??
The real solution is to return this money to the people who earned it and let them decide how it will educated their children. I know, pigs will fly first, so the next best solution is to return the money to the states for they are better equipped than the feds to respond to the local citizens and school districts inside their boundaries.