> An obvious problem with Reich's proposal, which he
> blithely overlooks, is that rich suburbs would not take
> the vouchers. Massachusetts (where Reich lives)
> already has in place a system which allows students
> in poorly funded districts to transfer to another
> district. The town where the transfering student
> lives then has to pay the receiving town the average
> per-pupil expenditure of the receiving town (generally
> higher than the per-pupil expenditure of the town where
> the student lives). Almost all of the better
> school districts have refused to participate. I doubt that
> the added incentive of a higher than average payment
> would change anything. There is a reason that upper-income
> people segregate themselves and their children in exclusive
> suburbs.
> Ellen
Middle & upper-middle strata suburbanites don't have to care about
dysfunctional urban schools. They are, in general, satisfied with
their kids' public schools. Voucher system offering lower-income
students measure of actual choice (i.e., covering full cost of
tuition) runs counter to M&UM interests because it devalues premium
linking school quality to value of homes. Michael Hoover
