Tag Archives: Vouchers

Teacher Unions Love Teachers – Not Students

Teacher

Want some proof that unions representing teachers are in it for the teacher?

Raleigh, N.C. — The North Carolina Association of Educators filed a lawsuit in Wake County Superior Court on Wednesday, challenging the state’s new private school voucher program.

The advocacy group wants the court to declare unconstitutional the Opportunity Scholarships Act, which was passed by the General Assembly earlier this year, and stop the state from issuing the vouchers.

Under the program, state lawmakers set aside $10 million in the budget to help pay private school tuition for about 2,500 students, starting in the 2014-15 school year. Legislative leaders said they plan to ratchet the fund up to $50 million a year after that.

Teacher unions are about power; not kids or education.

 

Role Of Government

I think the government has a role to play in educating our kids.  And the reason I think this is because children ate not free actors in all of their decisions.  For example, if left to their own devices, many parents would just skate on school and may never force their kids to go.

I think that kids need to be protected from that.

With that said, I don’t think that government actually has to BE the educators.  It is enough that they ensure an education is given:

Raleigh, N.C. — Rep. Paul Stam, R-Wake, on Monday filed a bill that would help families pay for private school tuition.

Stam calls the proposal the “Opportunity Scholarship program,” but opponents say it’s a voucher scheme that won’t help students who need it most.

“Parents can do a better job of picking the best educational environment for their child than the state can,” Stam said. “This empowers parents of limited means to make that choice effectively.”

I’m not sure that state education is better than private education.  In fact, my experience is that the private school is better.  As long as the government is ensuring that a kid is educated, why should it matter where that education takes place?  And to the extent that it DOES matter, why not send the kid to the better school?

Media Bias – II

Last month I posted about Media Bias as it pertained to the coverage in the Wisconsin Labor dispute between the public sector unions and Governor Walker.  In it, I decried that while Gallup DID, in fact, report on their poll that showed strong support for the limitation of State workers.  However, Gallup hid that report so deep and under such misguided headlines that it would never be found.

The top 3 most popular choices in dealing with state budgets?  Reducing the power and influence of the state worker.  Specifically, reducing the ability of the state unions to collectively bargain.

Recent headlines made me stop as I saw yet another case of media bias.

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Getting it Done the Right Way

I am a firm believer that education dramatically shapes the adult life of a child.  Take two children from similar backgrounds and have one graduate high school and the other drop out–the graduate will see dramatic social and economic benefits.  Further, the society around him will be better off as well.  High school drop-outs cost us, all of us, millions of dollars a year in physical damage and management.

And so, of course, it makes sense to have a system of public education.  What I find interesting is how each side of the political spectrum would explain such an entitlement program.  For example:

  1. The Left.  This one is easy.  The Left clearly feels that wealth and accumulation is something that springs up from the ground and is obtained by the “lucky” or “greedy” by muscling and elbowing out the less fortune or the week.  The Left would gladly take from the rich and distribute to the poor so that everyone had an equal chance.  Predictably, this typically make me lose my belly whenever I think about it.
  2. The Right.  This one is harder.  The Right, you see, is against entitlement programs almost all of the time.  No government provided health insurance.  No government provided mass transit.  No government provided welfare.  All of it.  “Man is free; let him obtain that which he needs” is their mantra.  While acknowledging that the Right could use a marketing approach that vastly improves the tone of their message, I emphatically agree with this take.  It is one of Individual Liberty that necessarily acknowledges Individual Responsibility.  The subtle and yet critical distinction is that in almost ALL cases, children in our society are incapable of expressing their Individual Liberty.  They either are lacking the intellectual capacity to express that Liberty [they are children after all, incapable of crossing the street in many cases] or they lack the legal status to exert that Liberty.  As such, it becomes incumbent upon us to restore to that child a reasonable course of action, which, through no fault of their own, they have been prevented from following.  In other words, just because Johnny’s mommy and daddy are fools who don’t take care of their child by sending him to school, does not make it Johnny’s fault.

And so it is that I agree with both the Left and the Right.  But I feel that the path each takes to their respective positions is wrong and illogical.  Further, because I believe as I do as expressed in #2 above, I do NOT agree with the right that we Ought take public monies meant for Public Education and dispense it in the form of vouchers for private education.  The monies collected and spent is for the general public, not for the individual child or family.

The way to make sure that kids get the education they need?  By doing it the right way:

Durham, N.C. — Family income should not determine a child’s destiny. That’s the premise behind Union Independent School, a new private school that opened this year in Durham.

Thanks to private donations and contributions, including $2 million from Union Baptist Church, the school has 74 students in kindergarten through second grade. The students are chosen by lottery and attend for free.

Thanks to private donations and contributions, including $2 million from Union Baptist Church, the school has 74 students in kindergarten through second grade. The students are chosen by lottery and attend for free.

This, ladies and gentlegerms, is how things get done in the real world!