Market dynamics work well in so many facets of American life, fostering competition which in turn spurs innovation, adaptation and often, excellence. But public education is not an area where market forces — which by definition create winners and losers — should reign.
Maine’s Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen last month unveiled a plan to reconceive public education. The theme behind the plan was to make schools more student-centered, even if that means jettisoning century-old systems and approaches. The commissioner’s willingness to be bold in this endeavor is welcome.
But this week, the other shoe dropped.
It’s no secret that Mr. Bowen is an adherent of the hard-right conservatism espoused by the Maine Heritage Policy Center (for whom he used to work), and its progenitor, the national advocacy group the Heritage Foundation. These organizations believe a school voucher system is the way toward better education for both consumers (parents and children) and schools.
But these ideological articles of faith must be set aside or at least tempered in the interest of governing, especially given that Gov. Paul LePage won 38 percent of the vote. Implementing school choice is too radical a change, especially now, given the wringer districts have been through with a poor economy, leaner state funding, declining enrollment and the consolidation process.
The logic behind school choice is not fatally flawed. By letting parents choose the school they want for their child rather than the one dictated by where the family lives, schools will work to improve to get those vouchers, is the argument in favor. And schools may work to fill niches sought by parents — an arts-oriented school here, a science and technology themed school there.
Market dynamics will kill the bad schools and boost the good ones, choice proponents believe. It’s just like when three shops selling lattes open in a small Maine village; the one offering the best value will likely survive and at least one of the others will close. But location, the color of the shop’s walls, the attractiveness of the wait staff and other such nonsubstantive factors can spell success or failure as much as the flavor of the latte.
And lattes are hardly essential to society. So if the line is too long at the single surviving shop and you skip buying the beverage one morning, life goes on. Education for all, though, is essential to society.
Under a voucher system, parents with intelligence, means and time will get their children to the better school. Parents who are struggling to keep a car running, who must be at work on time and can’t travel the extra miles to take their child to the better school, who aren’t intelligent enough to evaluate the benefits of one school over another will send their child to the school nearest home.
This market dynamic will create excellent schools, but it also will create bad schools. This would be a return to the separate but unequal education system of the 1950s.
One of the arguments made in favor of socialism is its efficiency. Instead of three latte shops, with all three having to keep more product on hand than they sell and having to keep staff on the clock even when business is slow, a single shop would operate more efficiently. The school choice scenario would turn this upside down. Bad schools would remain open but would, presumably, be sparsely attended and yet still have to be heated, lighted and staffed.
School choice is an idea that is attractive in the abstract but dangerous in implementation.
I don’t know much about lattes. I’m a coffee guy. But it seems to me that this latest proposal by “Job Killer” LePage and his minion Bowen, formerly of the Grand Wizard’s clan of highly paid political operatives, has tea written all over it.
But where’s your argument in favor or against school voucher? That’s what I was hoping for you to talk about. Instead, all we hear from you is drivel and a constant diatribe against the governor. Hey man, how about getting on with the issues? Now that’s where the real manly discussions are, where real folks are not afraid to stand up for what they really believe. How about it, thar feller.
So, we should continue to let the liberal
establishment indoctrinate our children in the merits of a flawed social
experiment? The concept of everyone winning or no one winning will lead
this country into a financial death spiral. Countries like China, India,
Japan, etc. push their students to help them get ahead. Today, the local
liberal luminaries are advocating a system that does not reward success.
Homework is not graded. Exams can be taken over until a passing
grade is achieved. Some schools are even eliminating the valedictorian titles
because “all children are gifted.” Sorry they are not and by
teaching to the lowest common denominator; we are only hurting our children and
this country. After all, the Occupy Movement is all about material envy –
wanting something you did not earn. Take away self actualization and
personal enrichment; you have a bunch of lazy, couch potatoes that will
eventually end up answering to China. Three cheers for school choice!
GO AWAY!
We dont need no stinkin school voucher system!
Based upon your grammar, I assume that you are a product of our fine public school system??
I’m not a fan of Dlbrt, not at all, but lets be fair here. This person is just trying to make a point while being amusing by quoting an old movie line from Treasure of the Sierra Madre. By the way, you have two question marks after your sentence. uh uh…..
I make use of double question marks often to accentuate. I suppose PureLogic101 did it with the same purpose in mind. This use of grammar has become commonplace, and serves as a good tool for expression. Don’t knock it down.
You are correct whawell!!! I often use additional punctuation at the ends of sentences to further accentuate my point!!!!! Too much can be annoying though.
At school I liked grammar and was quick to pick it up. Nonetheless, I get corrected now and then, even more so as I get older. :)
Check your first post above whawell. “Where’s is” So much for the being quick to pick up great grammar and punctuation! (Should I use multiple exclamation points here?) Really my original remark about punctuation was only meant to highlight that some who post comments do not always confine themselves to proper grammar, as in Dlbrt’s case, or proper punctuation, as with PureLogic and yourself. So it kind of bugs me when people criticize others for these deviations from proper grammatical form. This is particularly true when those that criticize make mistakes of their own. Have a good day.
You are against it in part because our Governor is behind it. Why don’t you stick to reporting the news instead of trying to make it.
All should go to private or religous schools free of charge as long as they are tax free entities. You think that will fly. You choose, they accept, no charge. They Charge, they pay taxes, they take taxpayer money, they pay taxes, they use water, they pay, they use sewers they pay, they have property, they pay taxes. Freedom for all. They dont complain about tolls, or the services they get from police or fire departments,paramedics ect.,roads,plowing airports,county taxes ect. But i will shut all that down. Ill be your Huckleberry.
I went to a private college but my taxes help support the University system, but I have no problem with that. Even the University license plates, but none for anyone else. Life is not fair, but it can be fun, if you try.
Read. There are a number of well researched reasons stated in this editorial (not a new item), not just an implied dislike of the Governor. Read.
Because this is an opinion piece, which is integral to each and every newspaper in the country.
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Faith based education is reported to be a slightly better choice in report after report from around the world. This is not to say that it is an end all for the education system but that in all probability faith based education also teaches “values” or “morals” if you prefer that term. Values are not a part of conventional secular education and you will not find such a program anywhere in our school system. Nor does the current school system curricula promote responsibility whereas students can see various “advocates” championing the cause of this excuse or that excuse as to why “Johnny can’t read” and will then proceed to state how it can be fixed if only the govt. would fund a grant to study the problem with the advocate usually somewhere in the background siphoning off a large salary. The students then learns that he is not responsible in one instance and further learns that if that responsibility can be abdicated then govt. will always be there to support him regardless of his personal input.
The true fact is that responsibility gives us the power to change for ourselves what we want for ourselves. A good moral code gives us the ability to deal fairly with others which in turn will allow others to trust us and work wit us in bettering our selves. It empowers us whereas the lack oft that moral training chains us to being only a slave performing the dictates of a governments wishes regardless of what type of government it is.
For another perspective taken from another time in this country;s history, please watch the video below and then reflect upon your own actions and see where you fall in relation to the statements made within: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xu1Q0E7oGQU
A wise man once said “Just because a point is made humorously does not make it any less true.”
Faith based education kicks out more students (in terms of percentage) than public schools do. They also have parents that are more likely to be actively involved in their child’s education. It has NOTHING to do with the schools values. It has to do with being able to get rid of ‘undesirable’ students and having involved parents. If public schools could do and have the same things you would see the education system in the US drastically improve over night. Of course, I bet if you gave public schools the power to kick out students most still wouldn’t, because people attracted to teach in public schools generally won’t give up on a kid so readily.
I’m am not talking about the schools values or what the needs of the school are. I am talking about the moral and ethical values which are taught to the student and the type of person that leaves that school as a person desirable and able to contribute to society and him or herself as a result of that teaching. Students learn as much or more by observation of the actions of adults as they do from books. Let us hope that we can see and understand the consequences of education without the direction of ethics and morality before the attrition of common sense erodes the country to a point of self destruction.
Rebecca, realize I am saying this as a Christian myself. Believe in a magic god in the sky is the exact opposite of common sense.
Common sense is the result of informed and accurate teaching. I am referring to those things of which we know are not based on any faith or belief. I/e Don’t re-enter a burning building for something that can be replaced easily. Don’t go skating on thin ice. Don’t drink and drive.
Faith based education like telling kids not to do drugs while they see their parents using alcohol or something stronger just to get through the day or believing that one can spend his way out of bankruptcy is what is happening now and is truly faith based education. There are many things more which are not taught in a classroom. But, that is another discussion.
“Common sense is the result of informed and accurate teaching.”
I disagree. Consider my own case. 4 siblings raised by the same married parents for the most part in the same two public school systems. All above average intelligence except one who is actually a mensa … and sadly lacking in common sense. This one excelled in school, was involved in the same social, family & church activities as the rest of us but not a lick of common sense, especially when it mosted counted. I firmly believe that common sense is a genetic trait, some have it, some don’t. In both cases it can, perhaps, be enhanced through experience and education but not truly taught.
I know exactly what your saying. Unfortunately in far too many instances many things in life which most people see as basic common sense seem to elude many people. I have a brother in law like that graduated from 2 ivy league schools and has no useful talents. While others have a very difficult time in school but have a gift for seeing an answer quickly and simply through a maze of adversity. But for the most of us our accumulated knowledge from a life of learning accumulates in our subconscious and is then revisited under the general term “common sense”.
And common sense isn’t always good sense, especially for technical issues.
Religious schools may do better becasue they can pick and choose. Also, they can more easily indoctrinate.
The solution to good schools, good students, and good results is good parents. What does that cost? Nothing. What risk is involved in that ? Nothing. School choice will undoubtedly shut down local public schools. Once all the public schools have finally been shut down by school choice guess what that will mean? The same kids who don’t care about education now because their parents don’t care will eventually have no choice but to be sent to Private and Religious schools that conservatives thought were going to protect their children. Results, their performance will go down just like and to the same level that we see now in public schools. So in the end the only difference will be that our taxes that once paid for local public schools will then be going into the pockets of religious schools or business people who’s primary interest in our children’s education will always come down to how big their profit margins will be? I also wonder how folks in Maine will feel when they see their little local public schools shut down because too many students/funds were pulled out to build and support nice big Muslim, Mormon, Jewish etc. schools? Will Mainers (Especially conservatives) be supportive of that? I’d have to guess no. Me, I’m opposed the the whole darn thing, but if what Mr. LePage is selling here is going to happen then we all should be prepared to be supportive of all religious doctrines. Of of course we could forget this nonsense and simply do what we don’t do now, support our local public schools, teachers, and children.
Without taking a stand on the voucher issue, are you suggesting that Muslim, Mormon, and Jewish schools don’t deserve equal treatment?
“Market dynamics will kill the bad schools and boost the good ones, choice proponents believe.” Killing bad schools will not only kill the schools but also damage the education of the children who attend them. They will never recover the years they attend these schools and will be condemned to a life in which they can never catch up. A truly child-centered school program would dedicate resources to improving bad schools so that all children get the benefit of a good education.
So, leaving them in the bad schools so they can graduate without an education is a better option than allowing them to go to a good school?
It’s better to have everyone consistently mediocre than to have winners and losers! Either everyone gets a trophy, or nobody gets one!
I can’t tell if you are serious or not. Your comment goes right to the heart of the issue though.
I was being sarcastic. I’m against the promotion of mediocrity in our schools.
The point is that every student in Maine deserves a quality education. “Leaving them in bad schools” should not even be a consideration. Improve the quality and performance of ‘bad’ schools!
Crazy…So let’s penalize the children of parents who do care about their child’s education, but can’t afford a private school, simply because some parents will not care?
People define school choice in terms of winners and losers. It is very possible that all schools will become generally good schools when they are permitted to develop their educational niche. Some schools that do not perform well academically and see their “gifted” students leave will be free to develop programs tailored to ‘remedial” students. School choice is about tailoring an education to the individual student, not about trying to force every student into the same mold.
Well why not? Our governor advocates penalizing the health care of children whose parents can’t afford medical care/health insurance. Why should education be any different?
Every parent who favors charter schools imagines that their own children will be admitted to them. Not so. Many will remain in public schools that still have the expenses of maintaining the original building (or part of it that’s cordoned off), paying utilities, and so on–with a vastly shrunk budget.
Even if admitted to the snazzy new “choice” school, when your child misbehaves, or doesn’t learn quickly enough for the charter school to brag about, they’ll get booted out. Back into what’s left of American’s public education system they’ll go.
Here’s a charter school that expelled a 6-year-old girl on her first day–http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-09-02/news/os-aspire-rejects-student-20110902_1_charter-school-charter-academy-first-day. The child has autism, and the school knew that when they accepted her.
A week before the school year began, the principal said the school would fill an unmet need within the county, serving kids in kindergarten through grade 2 who had spent months out of school for behavioral reasons.
When the mother complained about her daughter’s expulsion, she was told that the charter school makes its own rules.
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No, the current system says if you are rich enough, you can get a great education at an epensive private school. If you are religious, and rich enough, you can get the education you want at the religious school of your choice. If you are smart enough, you might be able to get into that private school if you are poor. Or, if you are poor, and lucky, you might get into a sympathetic religious school. Maybe your parents would have to clean the toilets to help pay your tuition.
The poor, or less academically gifted students–what do they get? The public school in their district. It might be good, it might not. It might offer great programs, it might not. But you are too poor to afford the private school so you have no choice but to send your child to that public school and hope that next year the taxpayers won’t revolt and decide to cut the budget.
That it the current system.
The proposed system says that no matter where you live, or how much money you have, if you want to send your child to a better school, or just a school that offers a different curriculum focus, you can have the opportunity to do that. You might have to figure out some logistics, although the proposed law would allow for school districts to transport kids to the alternative school if they chose.
I say CHOOSE CHOICE! (BTW, I have homeschooled my kids and will continue to do so even with school choice simply because I love the lifestyle. I will not push for reimbursement for my curriculum expenses. I have no vested interest in school choice. I just can see that this is good for kids.)
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{ Maybe your parents would have to clean the toilets to help pay your tuition. }
Haven you heard?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Zu8EeSAj6g
Republicans like Newt have allocated that task as an on the Job School High School Training Modual for the poor kids!
Hardworking students can get a great education in PUBLIC school. The problem is, there are so many students these days who could not care less about education (and most of their parents feel the same way).
Figure out some logistics…that is putting it mildly. No matter how little you pay in taxes in your town, you can send your child to the next town over (whose residents might have much higher taxes to support their school system). Yeah, “a few logistics” have to be figured out. This is going to be a disaster. There are so many answers that I doubt have even been considered in Augusta for how to make this work. Do the other schools have to take the child from another town? Can they say no? What if a special needs child wants to go to a different school. Can the other school say No….and back to what may come as the biggest issue…..The taxpayers in highly taxed town A now subsidize the education of students from lower taxed town B.
LIEpage and his Heritagy Policy Center minion making the wrong choice??? Say it ain’t so…
I
taught school for 39 years. I probably spent more time doing duties than our
current educational commissioner did in the classroom. Yet he is making all these
“great’ educational decisions? All part of the social agenda of LePage and company.
Private schools and charter schools can , and do, cherrypick the students they want.
Public schools can’t.
Like the editor, you are resorting to an emotional argument against school choice. I just don’t buy it. Rather I see such an effort to persuade as a substitute for lack of a better argument or no argument at all.
I favor school vouchers for school choice because past efforts to improve the quality of failing public schools has not worked while some private schools do well. Besides, unlike the false and rigid dichotomy set up by the editor, school choice proponents DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT, maintain “market dynamics will kill the bad schools and boost the good ones.” Some bad schools might end up closing their doors but most of them will mop up their act before doing that.
What are LePage and Bowen thinking anyway?? A student-centered school?? And letting parents have some choices about how to best educate their children?? These ideas are just horrendous! After all, everyone knows that the democrats, the mainstream media, and the teacher’s union know what’s truly best for the kids of this state!! C’mon LePage & Bowen–stop trying to rock the boat!! The current approach toward education has worked great for the past 40 years, so stop trying to change it!!
so your 40?
Once the Tea Party has killed public education in America, you will have NO choice. You will have to send your child to the nearest for-profit school (or pay for others’ kids to attend it), even if it’s run by religious zealots who “teach” them that history began with Adam and Eve riding dinosaurs. Good luck qualifying them for higher education or any career in science.
The purpose of corporate-owned schools is PROFIT (and in many cases religious indoctrination), not education.
The purpose of the current public school system is to benefits the teacher’s union, not the kids. I’ll take a profit motive over that any day!
I disagree. Politicians and conservative media, who are anti-union in general (God forbid working people should advocate for themselves!), spread nonsense like that.
Meanwhile, underpaid, overworked teachers are spending their own money to buy classroom necessities.
Most teachers do a fine job teaching. But how are they overworked? They get a full year’s salary while working 9 months out of the year. Plus they get school vacations off throughout the 9 months. I get 2 weeks of vacation off and end up working most of those days from home in the private sector. There’s no comparison.
The starting salary for Maine teachers is about $26,000 per year. We’re 44th in the country… The average salary for Maine teachers is about $44,000 per year. We’re 39th in the country. [http://www.teacherportal.com/salary/Maine-teacher-salary]. That website ranks Maine as 47th friendliest state for teachers in the US (3rd from the bottom).
Teachers work far more than an 8-hour day during the school year, arriving early, staying late, and often taking home papers to correct. These days they are at the beck and call of parents by e-mail at all times, including before and after school. They are often required to serve on committees and do extra school activities for no additional pay. They often work weekends trying to keep up. They go shopping for supplies on their own time, often paying for them out of pocket. They can be randomly assigned to teach entirely different courses or grade levels at the drop of a hat, requiring hundreds of hours of preparation (try transitioning from teaching 2nd grade to 6th).
Vacations during the school year are often spent catching up. Summertime often involves taking additional graduate-level courses. They can generally choose whether their salary will be paid over a 9-month of a 12-month period. Many must take seasonal (summer) employment to make ends meet.
There are three primary reason people become teachers: June, July and August
You too are blindered and have no idea of what’s involved.
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You have no idea …
Both of my parents worked in education, so I do know.
If your poor choices are typical, we’re doomed.
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And somehow I have the feeling that you think teachers shouldn’t get much more than minmum wage.
Often times our feelings will steer us to a wrong conclusion. I believe that teachers should be paid based upon their education, experience, and abilities. I have no issue with teachers. My issue is with their unions, which like many other labor unions, have expanded their reach beyond issues which address their members.
As someone who went to a parochial school for 9 years and went to a highly rated public school, I can tell you that academically the parochial school blew the public school out of the water.
This was at a time and area where there was basically 2 school systems. There was also complete seperation between public and parochial schools. The state didn’t provide transportation or dictate curiculum. This allowed the parochial schools to focus on the (so called) top tiers, academic and business. They had another advantage in that they could refuse troubled children, those with special needs, etc. They would not tolerate disruptive children and the teachers were the absolute boss in the class room. They demanded effort from the children going to their schools and children were not promoted to the next grade unless they completed the current year with passing grades. Of course these parochial schools were NOT for profit. They were not subject to property tax etc. and at the time they were staffed almost entirely with teachers who were also nuns or priests. I can honestly say that there was not one child that graduated 8th grade in the shool I went to who could be classified as ‘functionally illiterate.’
After I managed, through my own stupidity, to get thrown out of parchial HS. I was sent to what was supposedly one of the best public HS’s which was where I lived. The text books I was issued were the identical same books I had in 7th grade. It was a down hill spiral from that point onward until I quit to join the Navy.
Wow! Sounds like segregation to me!
It’s called seperation of church and state. Maybe we need an amendment to the constitution to seperate corporations from the state.
If a corporations that runs schools wishes to set up shop in every town in Maine, they are welcome to do so. If they want my tax money they not welcome to it.
Are you arguing that Maine should return to that system? I would disagree.
I agree with you that some private schools do provide a better education. I attended a college prep boarding school on full scholarship, and wound up becoming a National Merit Scholarship finalist and having my choice of colleges. About 25 years later I took some classes at UMF (starting a career in a new field) and discovered that what I’d learned in high school surpassed the knowledge of many students in their 4th year in that college.
When my daughters got to school, one was gifted and the other had special needs. The first could probably have been accepted at any private school; the second likely would have been rejected by any school run by a for-profit corporation, since they depend on selecting the kids most likely to succeed, in order to create an aura of excellence.
I worked closely with our local school system, advocating for my girls and trying to make the public schools better for ALL kids. My husband served on the school board. When I felt there were gaps in their education, we found other ways for them to learn (Scouts–all sorts of badges!–and better music and art lessons).
If the for-profit schools had existed back then (1980s and 1990s), and our local public school had been run out of business, our kids would have wound up in one of the local evangelical schools or, if we’d felt like a commute, a Catholic school. We took them to mainstream Protestant church and Sunday school and discussed religion at home; we felt no need for them to be taught someone else’s religion at public expense.
Wise parental practices. We had two kids, one a B student (in a blue chip school system with honor students getting 4.5 GPAs), the other with some mild learning difficulties. The former now has advanced degrees and is quite successful. The latter, with special ed help but in mainstream classes pulled a HS C average up to Deans list and an eventual Bachelors degree and is also asuccessful. These successes can take place in public schools. A private (especially religious) or for-profit school would not have accepted the C student.
Why are you bringing up for-profit schools? Does Maine even have any for-profit schools? It looks to me that the schools are either public, or private nonprofits, with religion or not.
Opening the door to charter schools paves the way for the charter school corporations. Take Florida, for instance, where Academia chains of nonprofit schools have assets of more than $36 million.
It receives more than $9 million a year in management fees just from its South Florida charter schools — fees that ultimately come from public tax dollars. Through more than two dozen other companies, its owners control more than $115 million in South Florida real estate — all exempt from property taxes as public schools.
They’re also in Georgia, Texas, Nevada, Utah, and California, busily destroying public education and siphoning tax dollars into corporate pockets.
That’s the Koch brothers’ and ALEC’s vision for Maine’s future.
You said Academia has chains of nonprofit schools? Was that a mis-type? I was asking about for-profit schools.
Actually I’m not arguing for a return to that system in that the system still exists. Parochial schools have always been non-profit and funded by the parishoners. They did many things to support the school catered weddings, bingo, card parties, etc.
There is a huge difference between for privated charter schools an parochial schools in my youth.
The families that sent their children to parochial schools still contributed to the public school system, in that they paid their property taxes, plus paid tuition and bought the books that their children needed for school. Some of the students parents didn’t have money to pay tuition and their children were still welcomed to the school. All of this without tax payer support.
The reason parochial schools were so succesful is because they had a proven track record with their students. They weren’t forced by school boards and governments to dumb down their curriculum.
If the for profit charter schools are taking my tax dollars to educate children, there remains some questions. Are they going to be bound by the same constraints and unfunded mandates that our public schools are saddled with? Are they going to be able to feed those who are deemed qualified for free breakfast and lunch? Are they bound to take children who are disruptive in the classroom?
IMO, if they are takeing my tax dollars they should be forced to operate under the same rules as the public school system.
I agree!
My ex husband used to get beat in parochial school. That’s where he learned to beat his wife and children. I’m not a fan of parochial schools. One of my children went to a private school that included worship, but it was nondenominational and the children were allowed to choose which church to attend. It was only a very small part of the school. Music was a much bigger part as every student had to learn to play an instrument. My child had a wonderful experience there. Nondenominational faith based schools are fine…specific religion schools are not because they are biased.
I got my lickings in parochial school and I knew what they were for and why I got them. I was never scarred. I have never beaten my wife. That is something that is learned in the home.
Personal experience with public and private schools is not relevant. I had the opposite experience where the public high school I attended offered more courses, better teachers, a real career counseling center (which could actually insure a job if you graduated) Our auto shop repaired all the county’s cars, Our home economics students prepared all the meals, and our driver’s education courses were paid for by several local auto dealers who also supplied (for free) the cars on which we got our on road experience.
Of course this was Westchester County New York where the C.E.O.’s roamed.
School choice or not, wealthy communities will have the best schools, while poorer communities will fight over table scraps. The system was deliberately created that way. Doubtful it will change before the C.E.O’s all move to the Cayman’s.
Harry I did mention that the Parochial schools focused on Academic and Business courses. Your are correct that there was more diversity in the public school system in that they had what we called shop. I totally agree that that was best for a lot of students who had no plans of ever attending college. But it doesn’t deny the fact that there are an inordinate number of children being pushed through the public system who are classified as ‘functionally illiterate’. That to me is unacceptible and needs to be addressed.
I agree, but my point was that different school systems have different outcomes, and those where all the parents are rich never get poor average test scores.
If your blanket statement holds truth, maybe it’s a case of natural selection. I do doubt that all the children of the were above average in ingteligence. The rich have their share of children with developmental problems. Of course back in my youth they were put into high end homes such as Good School in Langhorne Pa.
I would think that the wealthy parents had the ability to ensure their childrens success if at all possible by giving them the best opportunities to succeed. That ability is no guarantee that they will have the same outcome in life as their parents. Sometimes it is the drive in oneself that gives them a competitive edge. There are many examples of people who have been gifte with inteligence and a drive to succeed that came from the bottom of the socio-economic strata.
In other words, life is a crapshoot.
What we are seeing now is the effects of nearly 30 year of conservative led education reform that started with the publication of Nation at Risk. Of course education in America has always been dicey at best when compared to the rest of the world. We have always fared poorly on international test and measures, but Nation at Risk and the conservative reforms that it has inspired have been in effect for nearly 30 years. Since then, it has been largely politicized, with conservative school boards dictating curriculum (if you don’t believe me, look at the sway the Texas school board has on textbooks nationwide) and conservative politicians pushing draconian measures. Get off of the backs of teachers and let teachers teach. You will see the education results in this country improve significantly.
Let parents choose the type of education which is best for the kids, and give them credit for their taxes paid if they choose a private institution. That will produce the best results for all our kids.
From your other postings, I assume this is extreme sarcasm. On that assumption, remove the politization (which should also be removed from the LePage/Bowen proposal, leaving an empty shell), yes the groups listed do have a better chance of knowing what’s best for the kids.
Yes, I was being sarcastic. Not my usual approach, but the BDN’s take on this issue seemed to me to warrant an equally ridiculous response.
Socialism is not efficient. I think what you mean is, it is subsistent, or barely sufficient to maintain itself.
If three latte shops can operate without going out of business, that’s fine. If they make “too much” product, that’s fine too. Infact that’s great for the consumer. It means lower prices.
Only the free enterprise system can save education. Not vouchers, not higher taxes and fancier public school buildings. We need private schools, which will grow, compete, and innovate. We need to let the market-based process work itself out, so we can discover how low they can make tuition. See how much a basic, solid education really costs. Whatever the cost. I’m sure it is a fraction of what public schools spend per student today. And with property tax bills cut by 80% or more, local economies will flourish.
Today, we blindly throw money at a service, public education, which is failing us. We cant see the true market price of education, because of the current government monopoly.
Public schools are like the churches of medieval times. We need a reformation.
All private schools do is puke out stupid people who run for president.
there you go again ‘next’: more hogwash! With the exception of Kennedy and the Bush’s every US presient since WWI attended public high schools. Did you get beyond 8th grade? What school ‘choice’ will give our children is the opportunity to receive a PUBLIC education of the caliber of Harry Truman’s …the only modern President not to attend college, public or otherwise.
Calvin Coolidge attended Black River Acadamy in Massachusetts (Private)
Franklin Roosevelt attended Groton in Massachusetts (Private)William J. Clinton attended both private and public schools
Barak Obama attended the Punahou School in Honolulu for at least some of his primary school days.
Most of our presidents have come from the elite Not all, but most.
However, many of the churches (and their schools) need a reformation. Any reformation is not a done deal. It’s a dynamic process.
Don’t think these are “new” ideas. School choice, charter schools, teacher evaluations….all of these ideas have been around for decades. School choice will not solve the problems of a non-specific curriculum. As was mentioned before, the families with the financial abilities will be able to send their children to the “better” school, leaving yet another level of class warfare. Don’t get me started on folks that blame teacher unions for the lack of achievement students might show. Take a look at the countries that show the most success in educating their children and I believe you’ll find strong teacher unions. As for the private “religious” schools, show me some comparable test scores to public schools to see how the schools match up.
Your argument does not make sense to me. Yes, the idea of school choice has been around for a while, but it has not been legally available to the people of Maine.
How does school choice benefit the wealthy? Those with financial abilities are already able to choose the better school. It’s those who do not have the financial ability, but do have the initiative to seek the best education for their child who will benefit from school choice. I hear lots of people say that the less wealthy won’t be able to transport their children to the better school–but that is a specious argument. Sure, some people won’t–but does that mean that those who could and would should not be allowed to? School choice opens the door to so many great possiblities for people who are not wealthy–it is the one remedy a democratic country can offer to help level the playing field for all students.
It won’t be perfect–but allowing school choice will result in better education for the students.
It will very imperfect, far from perfect. Read again for more details. Those that can afford to get their kids transferred (if the “great” school will take them) will be the only ones who benefit.
Where does it say anything about parents needing to “afford” to send their kids to a different school in LePage’s proposal? The school choice proposed by the governor is all about allowing those that can’t afford a different school to have a choice of schools for their child.
The parents would still be responsible for the cost of getting the children to school (as you already pointed out) REALLY poor parents can’t afford that daily expense.
“Allowing school choice will result in better education for the students”but only the ones who attend private or high-performing schools. In effect this policy turns it’s back on under-performing schools and all the students in them. ALL STUDENTS DESERVE A BETTER EDUCATION, not just students from wealthy families or those who win lottery slots.
You are assuming that the only education a student could want is an accelerated academics focused one. There are all sorts of students out there looking for an education that suits them. Some schools may excel at rigorous academics, but that would leave room for some schools to focus more on remedial education for students who need more help and a slower pace. Other schools might focus on vocational education–some might be geared toward advanced technology, while others concentrate on trades, and others on agricultural science.
All students do deserve a better education, and they should have the ability to pursue the education they want, not have a standard curriculum forced upon them.
You’re assuming that I’m assuming a singular curriculum ‘forced upon them.’ Not so! The recent State initiative to have all high school seniors ‘college-ready’ was unrealistic and has not been successful. It doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t encourage aspirations in all students for higher education in a variety of directions, though. It also doesn’t mean that we should discard foundational learning that is important to who we are, where we come from and how we interact in society. Letting kids only ‘pursue the education they want’ sounds great but in reality limits their future. A balanced approach has much greater validity, especially in our hybrid capitalist/ democratic/socialist society.
That sounds like Lake Wobegon, the fictitious town where “all the children are above average.”
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The logic of this editorial is baffling. They are really saying that under today’s school system, it’s acceptable to have bad schools and good schools, because no parent can change their child’s school unless they move out of the district. So, if I live in RSU 19, my kids go to Nokomis High School, even though it is considered a “failing” school. I can’t send my kids to Maine Central Institute,which is as close to me as Nokomis, simply because of the accident of school district formation at some point in time.
Current situation: good schools, bad schools, no choice.
Potential future situation: Good schools, bad schools, choice.
Hmmm….I would take choice.
Sheesh…no wonder I homeschool.
Fine as long as they can be taxed as a buisness.
How many slots do you think the good schools are going to have available? Enough to take all students? Highly doubtful. How do you think schools will treat all students if they are being judged on such criteria? Have you ever considered how many students will be forced out of schools by administrations that must ensure they are on the good school list? See this is the problem with conservative logic. They can’t see the forest through the trees.
The choice schools in Florida base acceptance by grades more than anything. If it’s a performing arts school then there is also an audition. Free transportation is also provided anywhere in the same county as the school.
And how much money does all that “free” transportation cost?
I like the quotes around “free” as in “free” public education.
Schools would be able to offer the slots they have available. The Commissioner of ed. was very clear that if more students apply than there are slots for, then students would be chosen by a lottery so there would be no cherry picking. And no public school can force a kid out of school who wants to stay there.
There is no problem with conservative logic. I just wish non-conservatives would at least use some logic now and then to keep the debate interesting and productive.
I suggest people actually read about the proposals, and think about them for a minute, before they respond….
….
You think ANYTHING about the way we finance public education is “conservative?”
You believe that a school that wants a “kid (sic) out) can’t find a way to accomplish that? You actually believe that State and local Bureaucrats won’t find a way to “cherry pick” their students?
You must be very religious to have so much blind faith.
Well said, if school vouchers create good schools, than eliminate the bad ones. I live in Ellsworth and the principal of the HIgh School lost his job because of the poor student testing results. I would love the opportunity to send my kids to John Bapst or Bangor Christian. Both schools would offer my kids an excellent education. Than we could use our personal vehicles to transport our kids to and from school thus eliminating the tax sucking dollars of school buses. Speaking of buses, my kids speak of horific behavior and have bad memories of bus rides to and from school. So now my wife or myself take my kids to school now and have for 5 years. When Ii drop off my kids there are more parents dropping off their kids than ever before. School buses are now serving alot less people than ever before, could we privitize bus service and have only those who use the service pay? Rather than all paying with property taxes?
I get a mixed message from you. You seem to both praise and condemn the transprotation problems. And I do know of transfer students into John Bapst (don’t know about Bnagor Christian, probably requires a religion test). And was the Ellsworth principal a scapegoat for more serious problems (including partenting or lack thereof)?
Not sure what your asking. I am in no way praising the transportation system, it in my opinion it is a tax waste. As far as parents being at fault for the poor test grades, I got to believe they play apart in Ellsworth as well as John Babst and BC. Parents play a big role in education and some are a detriment and some an advocate. However year after year Ellsworth is in the bottom tier. My wife and I take my kids to and from school even though a bus is available. This is our choice because of the deplorable conditions we have been privy too. I think bus service should be privitized and those who use it should pay for it. The rest of us should get a credit on our Taxes.
There is nothing stopping you from sending your children to John Bapst or Bangor Christian. All you need to do is come up with the tuition and have your children accepted. Just don’t ask me to pay for it.
ARE YOU SERIOUS? Im not asking you to pay for my kids tuition, I pay my taxes and that lets me send my kids to Ellsworth schools free of charge. This voucher would let me take my children out of a crappy system and put them into a proven educational system. Where do you feel you are paying for my kids? I pay my taxes and i want the best schools for my kids, keep your money- I’m not asking for it!
You are not asking for my money? If that is so you are the only voucher advocate ever to state that your “voucher” should not exceed the school cost percentage of your property tax.
AND if that IS what you are saying, I would agree as long as the State allows me (No children here) to also use my (educational percentage) of my property tax to educate people about zero population growth.
We have a covenant in this society that says the older generations will pay for PUBLIC education for the younger generations. If you wish to break that covenant I’m OK with that, BUT I’m not OK with you changing the agreement.
No offence Mr. Snyder, but under the current system my tax dollars go to a crappy school system. I paid $3600 in property taxes last year and i do not know what percentage of that money went to the school. All I am asking is for the right to choose where my kid goes and not be forced to send them to a subpar system. Also if your right about the older people paying our way then fine, I do not want you to pay any more than you do now, all I want is a choice for my kids. If you got to pay, do you want your money wasted on a subpar school?
I pay my taxes where I live. I have no choice but to pay my property tax. I want my tax dollars to stay where I live. If you are worried about your childs education, you are the only one who can ensure that your child reaches the full pinacle of their ability. Taking your child out of one school and putting them into one of these for-profit charter schools is no guarentee that your child will flourish there. You the parent are the single most important person in your childs development.
In the mean time, I don’t want my tax dollars supporting private charter schools.
See but this is why I don’t understand why people think school choice benefits the wealthy. Right now, the rich can do just what you said–come up with the tuition to send their kids to a private school. It’s the poor people who can’t afford the tuition, but who would like to send their kids to a private school who benefit from the state allowing them to move the educational dollars with their child.
We are all already paying for education–would it be so awful if more kids got the education they wanted??
The kids will get what the tax payer is willing to pay for. I frankly don’t want my tax dollars going to support private for-profit schools. Not unless those schools are put under the same constraints and mandates that our public schools are put under. Who will you go to to ensure that all the regulations that our present schools are being followed by these private for-profit shools? The local school board that you elect won’t have any say in it. The current administration won’t help you because, IMO, are being paid to push these private for-profit schools.
MCI must be up to quota or maybe doen’t even have one, although they are an academy besides being the district school. I believe other public schools can take up to 10% transfer students if they choose to do so.
Better future: work to ensure all schools function well.
How, sir, how? We have a proposal on the table from Governor LePage. What is the alternative proposal? More of the same?
By homeschooling YOU are helping create the problem. poor preforming schools would best be helped by concerned involved parents. You could (of course) make the argument that you were protecting and serving your children (which is after all your responsibility,) BUT that argument falls apart if you have enough basis in reality to accept your own mortality. hopefully your children will out live you, if they do, their world-mates will be the children who attended the schools you ignored. If the game becomes “French Revolution” (not a far fetched thought in this polarized society) which parts are your children going to play? I’m not sure I want children I care about in the part of the royalty.
“But these ideological articles of faith must be set aside or at least tempered in the interest of governing, especially given that Gov. Paul LePage won 38 percent of the vote.’
I wonder if the BDN editorial page ever used this logic to oppose any of Baldacci’s policies?
Please, you must be joking. The BDN never said anything bad about the former governor.
Maybe because the former governors weren’t quite as obnoxious and kept in mind that they were elected by the people to serve the people of Maine. Not the MHPC/ALEC people from out of state.
Yeah right, that argument will work. Angus the mangus was all about working class Maine people.
Or King’s
They loved King and kissed his butt at every opportunity.
Like your property tax rate (which is rising even as the value of your property falls?) If so thank Governor King and his increase in school spending including giving laptop computers to children with families that could afford to buy their own!
Having moved here from NH, I can honestly say I think my property tax is darn cheap. But it is about the only thing cheaper about Maine, other than the wage scale…
I also moved here from New Hampshire, directly, from Manchester to Portland, and the rent for my very similar apartment in Portland was more expensive than the one in Manchester. Figure that one out.
Local property taxes are the primary source of school funding in NH, therefore they are higher than in Maine which uses other sources as well.
Public education is one of the ten planks of the Communist Manifesto. With the State in charge of education, students will only learn what the State thinks is appropriate, which means they will learn how to be good little socialists that are obedient to the State. Hence the election of a socialist dictator like little Barry Soetoro who is also known as Barack Hussein Obama. All public schools should be shut down.
Jeffery, from now on your name is COMRADE. Get to the Socialist School and learn your USSR’s. Then get to the state run farms and work for your bread, after standing in lines for days. Or you could have the state pay for religous teachings and become a pedofile priest, or a TV preacher (PTL Jim And Tammy Baker, JIMMY SWAGGER, PAT ROBERTSON) skies are the limit, but with my money, no religious welfare. Like you have a freaking clue what its like under communism, oh thats right, your a rupke, Go Obama.
You didn’t even understand what I said. You are a good example of the socialist indoctrination you received from the public school system. On top of that you don’t even know how to spell Jeffrey, or pedophile.
So you went to a corrupt OBAMA public school Comrade Jefferay Jeff or now I call you J.J. (DYNOMITE),good eye, hows it working for ya, so you can spell pedophile, bonus, I think we need to talk about your education, maybe a camp in Siberia, or say a Dacha,that way you can preach all the wrongs about what you preach about OBAMA first hand after the experience say 10 to 20 years you can leads us all in the revolution against the corrupt american education system Jeffy J.J.. Ill be your Huckleberry.
The Communist Manifesto was published in 1848, before public education began in America. Besides, public education did not originate from Mars and Engels. It’s an old idea like many of the concepts that Marx wrote in the Communist Manifesto.
I seem to be upsetting your socialist mindset by saying that public education should be abolished.
If that’s what you got from your education, regardless from where, you have been misguided (or self-deluded).
The USSR dissolved over 20 years ago – Russia now runs on supply-side economics; bad analogy guy, I can see education really worked for you.
you cant spell turkeys
Gee, I thought public education was a drive that started in the 19th Century, well before Communism and even Marx. And how about religious schools? Potentially dogma, propaganda, cookie cutter, etc.
Dont worry, LePuke said he was shutting down all schools. I say shut em down, more cheap labor, less property taxes, the whole nine yards, get em into the trades, and will kill unions, and their working conditions, and thier rights, Mardens for all. Another Gov. Walker, who is by the way getting recalled, shame Maine doesnt keep up with other States on that, like Paul is always referring think about that. Ill be your Huckleberry.
The latte analogy gets a D+. Here’s why. You have three stores selling lattes. Then you suggest that the store with the prettiest decor and the cheapest product will succeed, even though their latte might not taste the best. This is a false dichotomy.
It is very likely that all three latte shops will succeed. One shop might offer the cheapest lattes. Another might decide to offer Fair Trade lattes, with local organic milk, and organic fair trade flavorings. The third might say nothing goes so well with lattes than homemade fresh cinnamon buns with icing. See, you have to assume that the people who opened the latte shops want to stay in business. So they will diversify, or specialize as it fits their need. And the customers who like what they get from one shop will go there–other customers will go to the other shop. All the customers are happy and all the shops thrive.
Choice is good, as long as it is real choice between substantially different products.
As long as these latte shops aren’t taking my tax dollars to stay in business, I could care less if they opened 10 stores.
Trust me, you are already paying for the lattes—and there are some pretty bad tasting ones out there!
I was leaning more towards home schooling. Since the former governor handed out free computers and internet service to some we don’t need schools. Parents can pay a fee to whatever school they want, take control and responsibility of their childs education.
Not only should parents be given more choice in their kids’ education, but we should also include a tax deduction or credit for the costs of pre-college education for those who home school or send their kids to a private school. Right now, you can deduct the cost of child care before K-12, and you can deduct the cost of college education, but not K-12. This is another example of the influence of the teacher’s unions on our current political hierarchy.
Has the time for parents to pay their own way has arrived?
Why should residents who have no children pay for those who do?
Why should anyone get a “tax deduction” for the cost of ANY child-rearing activities?
Is it socialism when one family with no children is forced to pay for their neighbors 12 children, six of whom need special education?
I find it somewhat interesting that the people who scream loudest against universal health care feel it is perfectly OK to engage in “socialism” where education is concerned.
If my home was 500 feet east of its current location I would pay 1/2 the amount of taxes I pay now, and I would receive the exact same amount of services…. which is none.
Tax policy favors people with children because society as a whole has a vested interest in the next generation. It costs money and time to raise children, and parents should be encouraged in their job, not penalized for it.
Yeah, back when the country was young, and we were settling the west maybe, but now with 310 million citizens and counting every child born into poverty is a huge drain on the system.
Being childless is a big sacrifice, and people should not be penalized for that either. So where’s my tax break?
I paid $6K in property taxes in 2011, of which more than two-thirds went to the school system in my town. I would be happy to take this money back and use it to pay for private education for my children. Once my kids are out of school, I’ll still be paying for everyone else’s kids.
School choice is the right choice. I support the governor on this issue.
The problem with allowing religous schools into this equation is that it won’t just apply to dogma-driven Catholic schools and the evangelical zealots. Tax dollars would also go to support Muslim schools, Hari-Krishna schools, Scientology schools and any other religious entity. Are people going to raise a cry that they shouldn’t have to pay for Muslim schools because it violates their own religious beliefs? This is another LePage/Maine Heritage Policy Center mess in the making.
I have on my wall a certificate which states that I am a “Doctor of Divinity” the “Doctorate” was issued in 1978 by the “Church of the wounded Jesus” in Bakersfield California.
I suppose on the basis of this document, I could set up a school and collect money from the State….Religious schools are not subject to standards for education set by any government entity.
Yes, there are lots of Scientology, Hare Krishna, and Muslim schools in Maine. They will make out like bandits.
There not all religious schools and most don’t teach religion in the class room. What is it to anyone if a parent wants to use ” their” money to send “their” child to the school of “their” choice.
Parents are already free to send their child to any religious school of their choice using their own money. Just don’t make me spend my money via taxes to pay for a religious education.
Did I miss something? When did we stop being citizens of our government and become consumers of it?
Let’s just continue to blindly support the union controlled teaching apparatus while our student’s collective intelligence level continues to deteriorate.
Yeah, that’s the ticket!
Speaking of blindness …
….
I’m leaving with my family. LePage is trying to destroy the job prospects in my chosen field. I’m not going to stay someplace where there isn’t going to be any work to allow me to pay back my student loans. Why do that when I can go to any other state and get almost twice the pay with full benefits AND pay cheaper rent?
….
If LePage is successful in reducing the eligibility of healthy, young adults for welfare benefits, I would suspect that many who would be a financial drain on this state’s resources may decide to leave. This will reduce the tax burden and re-energize the business climate for those of us who choose to stay here. There is no “grunt” work that should be considered shameful to perform. The only shame should be for those who can work but choose rather to accept the benevolence of the State–as funded by those who do work!
Do you specialize in government bureaucracy?
It is a shame, but you will have to find a state unlike Maine…one with a growing, young population, an increasing industrial base and a broad tax base. With an aging population and a business climate that drives away the businesses that support public services, we aren’t headed in that direction. Say what you want about LePage (who I did not vote for), he is trying something different than the “stay the course, hope for the best” Ds have been doing for years.
With this plan locals will again have the opportunity to segregate their schools, That won’t effect many people down here where I live, but in Lewiston and Portland, I can see one or two schools becoming totally Somalian after the white folks leave.
Now I have always believed that in a free society, people should be allowed to choose with whom they associate, BUT schools are mandated by the government, and children must attend, often against their will. Up until the 1980’s when everything changed, schools were the great social homogenizer. Children were forced to associate with children of lower or upper income, and with immigrants and those who would share their future world.
I am not opposed to the plan to allow school choice, but I have not been won over by it either. This is a BIG BIG change, and in my view people have been given far too little information to make an intelligent choice.
I am with you. Here in “The County” there is very little “choice” to begin with. We have small school systems where even 20 kids leaving could have a huge impact on a school system. There are pro’s and con’s to school choice, but I am not sold on it.
oops
AWESOME, LETS GET THIS DONE, GO GET GET EM PAUL
If you think Russia is presently running on “supply side economics”, you must be smoking something really really good.
The Public School System is miserably failing year by year for many reasons. It’s getting worse EVERY YEAR.Try something new.Vouchers may work? Better than reading all these negative comments which criticize, but have no answers themselves. The Bangor Bleeding Heart News, lol.
Given the churches recent history of institutionalized child abuse do we really want to to trust them with access to even more of our vulnerable kids?
Oh, please. You haven’t been reading any stories lately about public school teachers accused of abusing kids??
Public school teachers have been caught and thrown in jail as they should be.
It was the church that uses it’s power to protect hundreds of pedophile priest from prosecution and instead moves them to new schools and parishes where they are given access to even more children.
It is this cover up and how the church helps these pedophiles rape even more kids that proves the church isn’t trust worthy enough to teach children.
If done properly and responsibly, school choice is actually a good, positive thing. It doesn’t mean that public schools fall apart. It also doesn’t mean the only alternative choice is religious schools. Take a look at Florida’s school choice set up. There is an application and acceptance procedure that has to be followed to get a voucher. There are incredible performing arts schools, environmentalism focused schools, public service focused schools, etc. As the parent of a heavily performing arts focused child I have to say that I would LOVE the opportunity to place my child in a performing arts school. Not all parents will rush their kids into these kinds of schools, and there is often waiting lists. This takes some of the burden off the public schools in the teacher to student ratio and the quality of education at the public school also usually improves. There is also a virtual option where kids can attend school online from their own home using
http://www.k12.com/
I don’t have faith in LePage to set up school choice the proper way, not by a long shot. However, when done properly I am a big fan of school choice.
What makes you think that this crew could do it anywhere near “properly”?
Please watch this brief video below by Sir Ken Robinson. His thinking, for the most part, transcends partisanship and tradition while being practical and painfully honest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U
(Safe for work.)And if you like that, see this TED speech Sir Ken gave on the impact of public education on creativity:http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.htmlOr, you know, just cuddle up in the blanket of worn out thinking and hope that’ll somehow keep everyone else secure enough in the future.
Okay…I just picked a random school district in Florida and found their magnet school page. On the menu to the left are Elementary, Middle and High School magnet school listings. I think those opposed to school choice might be surprised by what they find on the lists of schools.
http://www.sdhc.k12.fl.us/magnet/
“This market dynamic will create excellent schools, but it also will create bad schools. This would be a return to the separate but unequal education system of the 1950s.”
This says it all. Great editorial.
The editorial writer states: “This market dynamic will create excellent schools, but it also will create bad schools. This would be a return to the separate but unequal education system of the 1950s”. That statement is absolute drivel and a fallacious argument. The separate but equal schools of the 50s where not market driven, they were race hatred driven. To compare the ability of a student to choose a school based on the schools’ academic excellence verses his or her inability to attend a superior school because of race is absurd. BDN, this editorial smacks of MEA/NEA propaganda. The continued prosperity and leadership of this country is going to hinge on the level of success we have fixing our dysfunctional public education system. There can be no such success as long as we allow teacher unions to continue their de facto goal of maintaining school performance at the lowest common denominator.
Never forget, it is the abysmal failure of these liberal solutions, that led to various courts recommending school vouchers as both an equalizer but a superhighway(emp. added) out of poverty for minorities. —see the Kansas city decision ending suburban busing, the SERRANO decision in California and NAACP case in Denver; or move on to the Court’s reasoning in allowing the Indiana scholarship program to stand or the reasoning behind allowing Milwaukee’s and Cleveland’s school voucher program since they do not violate the Sep. of Church & State clause of the Constitution.
Republicans want to get rid of public education. Period. They’ve said so. As early as the 1970’s the Koch brothers, who are behind about every Republican policy being legislated at the Federal and State level, said they wanted to get rid of public education.
A voucher system is a step in the direction of getting rid of public education. Vote Republican if that is what you want. But if you cannot afford a private school tuition and room and board, of $45,000 a year, then you may want to rethink support of Republicans. They are definitely not on the side of the average citizen. Not when they desire to eliminate public education.
Seriously you should research before you speak. School choice is available in many states.
Oh and this doesnt include private schools. They are not under the states thumb.
Time to call an attorney… I should not be forced to pay for religious indoctrination.
Right now you’re paying for the religious indoctrination of our kids in the Global Warming Cult that Al Gore is in charge of!
and you won’t be since parents have the option of exempting their children from religious studies or worship…….he’s a starter:
Mixing it up Why non-Jews choose Jewish day schoolswww.jweekly.com/…/mixing-it-up-why-non-jews-choose-jewish-day…Jan 19, 2012 – Yet his parents, after looking at Catholic schools in the area, enrolled their son in kindergarten at Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School in …
Why Would a Jewish Person Want to Go to Catholic School? – Yahoo …Top answer: Because some Catholic schools offer a really great education for a reasonable price. In my area, Catholic schools tend to charge about half tuition …
The Heritage Foundation and the Maine Heritage Policy Center are Koch brothers organizations, and the Koch brothers have been advocating since the 1970’s getting rid of public education. And he is Maine’s Education Commissioner????
The Commissioner’s goal is to eliminate public education! Wake up Maine!
IF IT IS BROKE THAN FIX IT
or replace it.
OR GIVE DISPARATE PARENTS A REAL CHOICE!!
What about fried chicken jokes? http://racismdaily.com/tag/maine-heritage-policy-center/
I’m really sorry Maine for what is happening to you under LePage.
Shocking at how brutally honest the leftists at the BDN are today – using their own words “People are stupid so we have to dictate to them.”
It is so refreshing to hear the leftists at the BDN be so clear and honest with their language “We need to dictate to the people because they are stupid.”
Dear Editors, perhaps you should invest in a mirror.
Yup, check out the academic backgrounds of those ‘stupid’ people on the U.S. Supreme Court, esp.
Sonia Maria Sotomayor
As is normal for Pravda on the Penobscot, a liberal advocacy group pens an editorial and the lapdogs at the BDN editorial board take credit for it. In this case it was the MEA.
Another application of the Tom Oliphant/Susan Brophy school of ‘journalism’.
Maine had the first in the nation school voucher program and they initially went to schools run by religious institutions and affiliated with Bates(Methodist) and Colby(Baptist). Catholics didn’t enter Maine until the late 1800’s bringing with them Jesuit run schools–and a legacy of high quality education i.e. John Baptst is either #1 or close to it.
A parent enrolled their child in the school, went to the town clerk who acknowledged the admission and signed a voucher to pay the tuition bill at the school, after the student satisfactorily completed a semester. The school then notified the clerk the child had completed a semester or school year satisfactorily and the town then paid the bill., demonstrating how school vouchers hold both the parents and the school accountable for providing a ‘good’ education to a town family.
Even Thomas Jefferson in his advice to the State of Maine endorsed this method of payment; but urged a secular education.
Eventually, local government started first elementary schools and as their tax base expanded, secondary schools. The current academies have been around a long time, and they continue to deliver top quality education at a lower per pupil cost than most public schools….Most of the top ten 2011 SAT scoring high schools are private academies.
Your editorial writer is abysmally ignorant of Maine’s long history of subsidizing private education or the many benefits of subsidizing approved–see regs., schools run by religious orders.
Many parents know how good they are and will put up with economic hardship and long commutes to enroll and support their children in private schools, esp. those run by religious orders. Whether Greater Bangor Christian, Pinetree Academy or McCauly girls school they excel with every category of learner; including students with different religious backgrounds—it is common for Jews to enroll their children in Catholic schools and have them graduate with the same faith.