Before jumping into the issues related to school vouchers I hope that people will consider the following point: Many of the arguments related to vouchers also apply to charter schools which many people seem to support.
Consider: 1) Vouchers will draw revenues away from the public school. *Charter schools already draw revenues away from the public schools. The state portion of funding per student to charter schools is approximately $6,300 (more than has been proposed for vouchers) and this money is lost from the district's budget. Additionally, Post Secondary Enrollment Options transfer funds from the district's to the colleges and vo-techs. 2) Vouchers will draw the best students away from the public schools leaving them with the most difficult and expensive to teach. *Other than the fact that charter schools are required to accept whoever applies as long as there is space, the possibility of charter schools causing this effect on the public schools already exists. If it was legislated that special education funds could follow disabled students I don't believe that many parents of children with special needs would choose to leave their children in the public schools. There are better choices for handicapped children than the programs currently available in public schools. Fraser School is one example: http://www.fraser.org/tpl_services_school.asp 3) Vouchers will force the public schools to improve through competitive pressures. *Although I don't completely agree with this argument, there is evidence that the charter schools have already fostered improvements in the public schools, as detailed in a study Humphrey Institute's Center for School Change: http://www.hhh.umn.edu/centers/school-change/docs/wrhc.pdf 4) The public schools will not have the resources to improve if vouchers are used extensively. *Although being large has its benefits, in terms of purchasing power, (which I'm not sure that the MPS fully take advantage of), being large also has its disadvantages, such as bureaucracy, etc.. It's not clear that the MPS cannot be managed as an economy of scale and use a reduction in enrollment as an advantage rather than a liability. 5) Vouchers may fragment the educational experience in America. *I believe that the strongest argument against vouchers is that their use may fragment the educational experience in America by ethnicity, race, or religious affiliation. However you don't hear this argument from opponents that often. I suppose this is because it violates some of the assumptions of multicultural education. Michael Atherton Prospect Park http://QualityEd.US PS: Although issues related to vouchers are not necessarily Minneapolis specific my views as a school board candidate are relevant to a voter's choice. _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
