I have a plan to help fix inner-city schools (Buffalo, NY case study)

[A_C_E]

Originally Posted by kinggovernor

Create competition and allow school vouchers. We have good parachoial schools that have a declining number of students. Allow poor students to use vouchers to go to those schools.

That is how you can attack and undermine the power of the teacher unions and give students a better education.

Vouchers aren't going to solve this. They're just going to kill the public school system altogether.

We can argue later about the merits of killing the public school system, but allowing vouchers in Buffalo would lay waste to the public schools. The only students left getting public education would be dirt poor ones, and we've seen how well those situations work out.

In any case, such a decision would have to come from Albany, and they're certainly not going to do it

[kinggovernor]

Originally Posted by A_C_E

Vouchers aren't going to solve this. They're just going to kill the public school system altogether.

We can argue later about the merits of killing the public school system, but allowing vouchers in Buffalo would lay waste to the public schools. The only students left getting public education would be dirt poor ones, and we've seen how well those situations work out.

In any case, such a decision would have to come from Albany, and they're certainly not going to do it

a voucher system should start with poorest students, and allow parents to make a choice. If they qualify under the income levels, they will have a choice to send their child to the school that everyone agrees is failing or send them to a better school where at least they have a chance. I know there is some issues with church/state, but that decision should be made by parents. It should not be used as a guise to maintain the status quo, which almost everyone agrees is not working.

[kombayn]

Originally Posted by kinggovernor

Create competition and allow school vouchers. We have good parachoial schools that have a declining number of students. Allow poor students to use vouchers to go to those schools.

That is how you can attack and undermine the power of the teacher unions and give students a better education.

A voucher system would be incredibly beneficial to the public education system right now. Creating competition will make the public format compete with the private sector, just like we do with our University system. It's time to try something new to help kids earn themselves a better education and want to finish high school.