> [Platt] > Naturally there will be a transition phase before all schools become > private. > > [Arlo] > So, let's think beyond that for a moment. All schools are now private. We > have abolished school taxes. What happens to people who can't afford good > schools? What happens to people who can't afford school at all?
Thinking beyond that -- all people can now afford good schools. > [Platt] > Of course not, no more so than they are today. Quality will vary as always. > > [Arlo] > And which schools will have better Quality? The ones attended by the wealthy > or the ones attended by the poor? Class distinctions will make no difference in the quality of schools. > Are you denying that in this system the schools will stratify according to > class? How not? How so? > [Arlo previously] > What will happen is obvious, schools will congregate along class-lines. Poor > families that can't afford good schools will get crappy second rate ones > (its all they will be able to afford). Rich kids will get the best > education. Some will, some won't. > [Platt] > Giving parents a voucher and a choice, schools will compete for students, > raising quality. > > [Arlo] > So you favor forcing private schools to accept vouchers? Would this be on a > lottery system? Would schools be able to choose who they accept? Would > schools be able to deny low-income families? Non-whites? Schools will offer variety like the free market. > [Platt] > I never claimed all schools would be, or should be, equal. But they would be > better overall than they are today due to competition. > > [Arlo] > Japan's and Finland's public schools arguably provide among the best > education available in the world. And they are public schools. Why is this? I don't know. You tell me. Why do Jewish and Asian students do better in school than others? > At least in the present system we are striving to provide all our children > with comparable quality educations. We may fail at times, and we should do > better, but it is a worthwhile goal. Fail at times? Surely you jest. Failure describes the condition of government schools today. > Stratifying education among class lines, so that rich kids get a better > education than poor kids, and accepting this as natural, is just sad. To harp on equality of individual abilities and student outcomes is sadder. > [Platt] > Public schools today aren't equal in quality education. In fact, most public > schools do a lousy job. So what's your point? > > [Arlo] > Most public schools do a great job. There is room for improvement. And where > there in inequality our goal should be to bring underachieving schools to > the same standard as successful schools. Most government schools fail to educate even the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic, not to mention self-discipline, self-reliance and aesthetic taste (quality). Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
