Although I realize it's not the point the author of the article was trying
to make, nor the reason it was posted to the list, a question which arises
after reading the article is why there are apparently not any private
schools available which emphasize that their academic standards are
superior to those of the failing public schools but which are not
associated with any religious organization? Are there indeed no such
non-religious schools, or is there some other reason why that is not a
valid choice in this case?
At 10:57 AM 9/20/03 -0500, The Fool wrote:
--
If only 1,300 of the District's 67,500 students are to benefit from this
experiment, what happens to those who remain in public schools? The
education bills being debated in Congress include an additional $27
million in funding for charter and public schools.
Of the $40 million for set aside for education, a third would go to the
vouchers plan.
That's worth repeating. One-third of the federal funds given to D.C. for
education would be used to benefit 2 to 3 percent of our students.
--
http://www.houstonvoice.com/2003/9-19/view/editorial/vouchers.cfm
School vouchers leave gay students behind
If the Republican Congress gets its way, gay students will either have to
study in the closet or stay where they are at failing public schools.
By KEN SAIN
IT APPEARS CONGRESS is about to downgrade District of Columbia residents
from people who dont matter to guinea pigs who dont matter. They intend
to force school vouchers on us even though some congressional supporters
admit they would never do that to their own constituents.
The only time District residents were asked if they wanted vouchers, they
voted 89 percent against the idea in a 1981 referendum election. But who
cares what the people who have to live with this experiment think?
Congress doesnt. Once again D.C. pays the price for lacking a vote on
Capitol Hill and gay students are the ones who could suffer this time.
President Bush has had a hard time convincing anyone to give his school
vouchers program a chance. Bush campaigned on a plan to give federal
funds to parents of children who are attending a failing public school
and allow them to enroll their children in a private usually religious
school.
Enter D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams. He gets a seat in the presidents box
at the State of the Union address, and suddenly he reverses his position
on school vouchers. He supports them now. In fact, if it wasnt for
Williams changing his mind, this threat would have died months ago.
Williams is one of those New Democrats, you know, the ones who look
suspiciously like Old Republicans. Also flip-flopping on the issue is
D.C. School Board President Peggy Cooper Cafritz and City Councilmember
Kevin Chavous. All three had told the Gay Lesbian Activist Alliance in
pre-election questionnaires they were against school vouchers.
Armed with these three conversions, the Bush administration came up with
a five-year trial period for school vouchers in the District. It would
give the parents of 1,300-to-2,000 students $7,500 annually per child so
that they can take their child out of a failing public school, and put
them into a private school.
THIS IS JUST another attempt by this administration to force more
religion into citizens lives.
Still, it hasnt been easy convincing Congress. Sen. Diane Feinstein
(D-Calif.) supported imposing vouchers on District residents even though
she admits she would never do the same to Californians.
The House approved the bill by one vote. To get that approval, House
leaders scheduled the vote for the same time as the Democratic
presidential candidates debate last week. Voucher opponents and
presidential candidates Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) and Rep. Dennis
Kucinich (D-Ohio) were at the debate and missed the vote.
Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), another voucher opponent, also missed
the vote because he was acting as host for the debate, which was co- the
Congressional Black Caucus, which he chairs.
And, according to the Washington Post, they still didnt have the votes
to pass it. They had to negotiate a deal with Kentucky Republican Ernie
Fletcher to get him to switch sides.
It passed 209-208.
GLAA, D.C.s GAY rights organization, has come out against vouchers. GLAA
points out that school vouchers would complicate the lives of gay
students.
Gay students who take the vouchers and attend a religious school would
likely have to remain in the closet. A private school does not have to
follow the same rules as public schools. In most cases, there will be no
gay-straight student alliances. Courts cannot force private schools to
add gay-friendly clubs.
There will likely be no openly gay teachers or administrators kids can
turn to for support. Any gay teachers who come out of the closet at a
religious school can be fired.
Ask Albert Santora about that. He lost his job at Paul VI Catholic High
School in February when some students recognized his photo on a Web site
