June 28, 2002

Here's a quick ripping of

Here's a quick ripping of the NY Times editorial on the school voucher ruling:

The majority argues that the Cleveland program does not, as a technical matter, violate the First Amendment because it is parents, not the government, who are choosing where the money goes. But given the reality of education in Cleveland, parents do not have the wealth of options that would make their selection of religious schools meaningful. And in any case, the money ultimately comes from taxpayers, and therefore should not be directed--by whatever route--to finance religious training.

Compare the Cleveland voucher program to the G.I. Bill. The latter allows soldiers to go to any college, religious or secular. Same for federal student loan programs. Is this a violation of the First Amendment? In both cases, individuals, not government, decides what school to attend.

This ruling does as much damage to education as it does to the First Amendment. A common argument for vouchers is that they improve public schools by forcing them to compete for students. What is holding the public schools back, however, is not lack of competitive drive but the resources to succeed. Voucher programs like Cleveland's siphon off public dollars, leaving struggling urban systems with less money for skilled teachers, textbooks and computers. They also skim off some of the best-performing students, and the most informed and involved parents, from public schools that badly need their expertise and energy.

This argument is straight from the teachers union press releases. Funding of public schools does not correlate with student performance. If that were the case, Washington, D.C. which spends over $10,000 per student per year would be blowing the roof off of test scores. There would also be oodles of budding geniuses in the Kansas City area after a federal judge forced that school district to spend huge sums of money.

What holds public schools back are poor, faddish teaching methods. Too many schools focus on self-esteem and social justice over the basics. Competition would give public schools a feedback mechanism so they can tell if they're actually doing the job they're suppose to do.

"The Wrong Ruling on Vouchers"