I see a few individuals but "Parents" for School Choice is not some grass roots group of concerned "parents" trying to get their kids out of public schools. The major donors are business and out-of-state interests. Patrick Byrne is the CEO of Overstock.com. So now we have big corporate interests determining the quality of education for everyone's kids.
All Children Matter, Inc. is an out-of-state interst group determining our local school policy.
Doug Holmes is a leader of the Voucher Pro-Choice special interest group. Energy Solutions buries nuclear waste in the desert west of Salt Lake County. Developers build real estate--maybe I don't get it because I didn't go to private grammar school, but why do these people want to take money out of our public school system? Hint: it is not about kids, it is about their philosophical opposition to a free quality public education for all of our children.
2006 contributions for the Voucher Pro-Choice group:
Holmes, Doug 321 Oak Lane Farmington, UT 84025
01/04/2006
$20000.0
Patrick Byrne700 Bitner Road Park City, UT 84098-
01/09/2006
$20000.0
Black, Robert 5 Hidden Court Park City, UT 84060
01/12/2006
$1000.0
Davis, Glen 2850 East 3300 South Salt Lake City, UT 84109
03/20/2006
$250.0
Sheranian, Lori PO Box 656 Springville, UT 84663
03/20/2006
$50.0
Warren, Kim PO Box 17819 Salt Lake City, UT 84117
03/21/2006
$5000.0
Anderson, Nedra 1791 N 1200 E North Logan, UT 84341
03/22/2006
$100.0
All Children Matter, Inc.201 Monroe Ave NW Ste 300 Grand Rapids, MI 49503
03/25/2006
$50000.0
Jenkins, James W1734 Spring Lane SLC, UT 84117
03/29/2006
$500.0
Tenney, Will 765 W 600 S Alpine, UT 84004
03/30/2006
$750.0
Knight, David 1495 Arlington Drive Salt Lake CIty, UT 84103
04/01/2006
$1000.0
Iverson, Dennis 40 E 200 N Washington, UT 84780
04/02/2006
$50.0
Holmes, Melba 1539 Shadow Valley Dr Ogden, UT 84403
04/25/2006
$50.0
Fillmore, Lincoln 2355 Karalee Way Sandy, UT 84092
04/27/2006
$100.0
Purinton, Jeanne 485 E 700 N Spanish Fork, UT 84660
05/02/2006
$50.0
Patrick Byrne700 Bitner Road Park City, UT 84098-
05/08/2006
$20000.0
All Children Matter, Inc.201 Monroe Ave NW Ste 300 Grand Rapids, MI 49503
06/05/2006
$50000.0
Harris, Neal 2108 N Summer Wood Dr Farmington, UT 84025
06/26/2006
$500.0
Baker, Joe 231 Rountree Dr Cedar City, UT 84720
07/13/2006
$50.0
Patrick Byrne700 Bitner Road Park City, UT 84098-
07/14/2006
$10000.0
Holmes, Erin 321 E Oak Lane Farmington, UT 84025
09/12/2006
$1500.0
Jenkins, James W1734 Spring Lane SLC, UT 84117
09/12/2006
$5000.0
TSS Investments252 W 540 N Orem, UT 84057
09/12/2006
$5000.0
McGuire Group LLC85 Eastbay Blvd Provo, UT 84606
09/12/2006
$5000.0
Construction by Design Corp.PO Box 118 Spanish Fork, UT 84660
09/12/2006
$5000.0
Barfuss, Andrew 673 Ridgewood Cir. Farmington, UT 84025
08/02/2006
$500.0
Laycock, Lloyd 1540 S Kanab Creek Dr Kanab, UT 84741
08/08/2006
$50.0
Erickson, Amy 2295 S Bountiful Blvd Bountiful, UT 84010
09/12/2006
$500.0
Zito, Anthony 12298 Graystone Ct Draper, UT 84020
09/12/2006
$750.0
Pankratz, Teena 11963 Draperville Ave Draper, UT 84020
09/12/2006
$50.0
L & S Auto Sales497 Market St Kaysville, UT 84037
09/12/2006
$500.0
Dynes, Adam M224 5th Avenue Apt B Salt Lake CIty, UT 84103
09/12/2006
$50.0
Casa Bella Development 2040 East 4800 South, Sute 202A Holladay, UT 84117
10/22/2006
$1500.0
Fuller, Brandon 6972 N Northfork Rd. Liberty, UT 84310
10/13/2006
$100.0
Eringo , Mike KobiaPO Box 11843 Salt Lake City, UT 84147
10/06/2006
$200.0
Moon, Gregory 419 Salvia Ct Bel Air, MD 21025
10/06/2006
$50.0
Aggregate ContributionsVarious Various, UT 84111
10/28/2006
$90.0
contributions received from 9/16 - 10/31/2006
Olde Millinery Investments LLCPO Box 276 Farmington, UT 84025
09/12/2006
$500.0
JD Clark Enterprises, Inc.2774 North 920 East North Logan, UT 84341
09/12/2006
$1000.0
Five Pillar Investments LLC863 S 1520 E Spanish Fork, UT 84660
09/12/2006
$5000.0
Davis, Glen 2850 East 3300 South Salt Lake City, UT 84109
03/20/2006
$250.0
Knight, David 1495 Arlington Drive Salt Lake CIty, UT 84103
04/01/2006
$1000.0
Poulton, Steve 2137 E. 3300 S. Salt Lake City, UT 84109
07/26/2006
$200.0
Bateman, Kyle 4001 N Sherwood Dr Provo, UT 84604
09/07/2006
$300.0
Koerber, Claud R599 E 1355 S Springville, UT 84663
09/12/2006
$5000.0
Joseph, Gabriel 188 W River Park Dr Provo, UT 84603
09/12/2006
$5000.0
Holbrook, Jonathan 378 Alice Mae Cir Farmington, UT 84025
09/12/2006
$300.0
Clements, Jordan W.6372 S Braxton Ct. Salt Lake City, UT 84121
09/12/2006
$1500.0
Toone, Rock 4780 S 2400 W Roy, UT 84067
09/12/2006
$100.0
Andersen, Steven 346 Oak Ln Farmington, UT 84025
09/12/2006
$500.0
McGarry, Tricia 2018 E Terrace Court Sandy, UT 84093
09/12/2006
$750.0
Franklin Squires Investments85 Eastbay Blvd Provo, UT 84606
09/12/2006
$5000.0
Sheranian, Lori PO Box 656 Springville, UT 84663
03/20/2006
$50.0
Holmes, Melba 1539 Shadow Valley Dr Ogden, UT 84403
04/25/2006
$50.0
Fillmore, Lincoln 2355 Karalee Way Sandy, UT 84092
04/27/2006
$100.0
Harris, Neal 2108 N Summer Wood Dr Farmington, UT 84025
06/26/2006
$500.0
Baker, Joe 231 Rountree Dr Cedar City, UT 84720
07/13/2006
$50.0
Knudsen Fillmore, Alexandra 2355 Karalee Way Sandy, UT 84092
09/08/2006
$900.0
Celaya, Katie 3449 E Appaloosa Way Eagle Mountain, UT 84043
09/12/2006
$50.0
Hill Erickson LLC85 East Bay Blvd, Ste 200 Provo, UT 84606
09/12/2006
$5000.0
Holmes, Doug 321 Oak Lane Farmington, UT 84025
01/04/2006
$20000.0
Patrick Byrne700 Bitner Road Park City, UT 84098-
07/14/2006
$10000.0
Holmes, Allison 416 N Seven Peaks Blvd. #317 Provo, UT 84606
09/16/2006
$100.0
All Children Matter, Inc.201 Monroe Ave NW Ste 300 Grand Rapids, MI 49503
09/18/2006
$50000.0
Halar Corp568 West 800 North Orem, UT 84057
09/20/2006
$500.0
Coleman, Aleisha 127 East 400 South Provo, UT 84060
10/13/2006
$100.0
Pankratz, Teena 11963 Draperville Ave Draper, UT 84020
10/13/2006
$50.0
Thomas V. Hatch Campaign FundPO Box 391 Panguitch, UT 84759
10/13/2006
$1000.0
Dickson, Dana 3643 Choke Cherry Dr. Salt Lake City, UT 84109
10/20/2006
$50.0
Energy Solutions423 West 300 South Suite 200 SLC, UT 84101
10/20/2006
$1500.0
Holmes, Melba 1539 Shadow Valley Dr Ogden, UT 84403
10/20/2006
$100.0
Ahlstrom, Paul 7911 S. Davinci Drive Salt Lake City, UT 84121
09/22/2006
$5000.0
Haroldsen, Mark O.4505 Wasatch Blvd. Salt Lake City, UT 84124
10/06/2006
$1500.0
D+E Development, LLC321 E Oak Lane Farmington, UT 84025
10/26/2006
$10000.0
Stevens, Todd One South Main Street Salt Lake City, UT 84111
10/06/2006
$300.0
Peterson , Joel 6033 South 2300 East Salt Lake City, UT 84121
10/06/2006
$5000.0
Potter, Steven 240 Old Kings Hwy S Darien, UT 06820
10/06/2006
$200.0
Madsen, Mark 333 E Main, PO Box 527 Lehi, UT 84043
09/16/2006
$500.0
Bailey, Donald PO Box 1221 Provo, UT 84603
09/16/2006
$50.0
Legends Land & Ranch, LLCPO Box 33759 Indialantic, FL 32903
09/16/2006
$1000.0
Johnson, Hal 568 W 800 N Ste 203 Orem, UT 84057
09/16/2006
$500.0
Celaya, Chelsea 739 Sand Dollar Dr. Sandy, UT 84094
08/30/2006
$250.0
Knight, David 1495 Arlington Drive Salt Lake CIty, UT 84103
09/10/2006
$500.0
Media Forum, Inc8548 Mivu Circle Sandy, UT 84093
09/11/2006
$4500.0
Coleman, Aleisha 127 East 400 South Provo, UT 84060
09/12/2006
$50.0
Swain, Lew 1688 N canyon Circle Farmington, UT 84025
09/12/2006
$700.0
Fillmore, Lincoln 2355 Karalee Way Sandy, UT 84092
09/12/2006
$50.0
Capital Enterprises LLC415 W 3700 N Provo, UT 84604
09/12/2006
$5000.0
Black, Robert 5 Hidden Court Park City, UT 84060
01/12/2006
$1000.0
Warren, Kim PO Box 17819 Salt Lake City, UT 84117
03/21/2006
$5000.0
Iverson, Dennis 40 E 200 N Washington, UT 84780
04/02/2006
$50.0
Patrick Byrne700 Bitner Road Park City, UT 84098-
05/08/2006
$20000.0
Tenney, Will 765 W 600 S Alpine, UT 84004
03/30/2006
$750.0
Purinton, Jeanne 485 E 700 N Spanish Fork, UT 84660
05/02/2006
$50.0
Aggregate ContributionsVarious Various, UT 84111
12/31/2006
$25.0
aggregate contributions 10/29-12/31/2006
Doug Holmes321 E. Oak Lane Farmington, UT 84025
12/21/2006
$20000.0
Merrill, Teressa 4901 Whitsett Ave. #206 Valley Village, CA 91607
11/20/2006
$3800.0
Peterson, Elisa C6508 Hickory Lane Salt Lake City, UT 84121
12/13/2006
$716.42
Yes
phone bills
D+E Development, LLC321 E Oak Lane Farmington, UT 84025
11/20/2006
$20000.0
Yes
Peterson, Elisa C6508 Hickory Lane Salt Lake City, UT 84121
12/1
28 comments:
I think it’s great that these people are being politically pro-active and taking a serious interest in the future of our children and our state.
This movement will give parents like me the freedom to send my child and my tax dollars to schools which will only continue to improve under a free market system. Schools will either have to improve or close.
Like the pervious anon poster stated, vouchers have worked in the northeast in the poorest of neighborhoods, allowing inner city parents to send their kids to middle, upper middle class private schools as well as private schools. Schools which don’t cut it will loose students and tax dollars and either be forced to close or change.
This is a great concept, freedom for parents, freedom for students and pro-active, pro-free market environment for our public schools.
Dear Anonymous:
So, all that money spent on political arm twisting is ok with you. And just as long as the rest of us bow down to rich people like you, that's ok with you. And your kids are more important than mine.
Thanks for making it crystal clear as to why you are for vouchers!
p.s. why do you hide behind the "anonymous" name? are you afraid to step out and defend your opinion? or do you like the dark and think we should continue electing government leaders who love secrecy?
As one who works and sends his kids to private schools, the voucher system will be a great thing.
One of the major tenets of liberalism is the readiness to sacrifice the rights and freedoms of the individual for the good of the state.
That’s why some liberals oppose school choice. Everyone recognizes that giving a kid in a failing public school the option to attend a private school is better for that kid. However, liberals argue that if we allow kids the right to pick their school, the result will be a wholesale abandonment of the public school monopoly. (Of course, why liberals think public schools are so inferior an option that they can’t compete with private schools is another matter altogether.) These opponents of vouchers wring their hands and cry that vouchers will “weaken” public schools by “taking dollars out” or permitting private schools to “cherry pick” the best students.
All of these concerns are unfounded. The Left can’t understand that by permitting individuals the freedom to choose their school, new pressures are created that will improve all schools—including the public schools that are seemingly going to be abandoned.
A new study of the impact of competition in Florida from the Manhattan Institute reinforces this point. The state of Florida’s A+ program forces students to take a standardized test, and then grades schools based on student performance. Students in schools that receive a failing “F” grade for any two years in a four year period become eligible for a school voucher.
In When Schools Compete: The Effect of Vouchers on Florida Public School Achievement, Dr. Jay Greene and Marcus Winters found that Florida public schools improved with this competition, and that the public schools facing failing grades improved the most. Of course, the students given vouchers are better off—but the failing schools these students can now leave are also performing better! It’s exactly the opposite of the liberal gloom and doom prediction. (the full report is available here) Florida Governor Jeb Bush is a national leader on education competition, and his vision of education competition is starting to bear fruit in the sunshine state.
Of course, facts and evidence will never be enough to convince the teachers’ unions that education competition is a good thing. For far too long, the public schools monopolies have been run as a jobs program first, with education only as the secondary mission. Simply look at the ratio of actual classroom educators to support staff in the United States. In the vast majority of school districts, there are more employees not teaching than teaching. Vouchers and competition brings competitive pressure, which over time will produce excellence. That’s supported by the latest evidence from Florida, and a reason why we should support additional experiments in school choice.
In fact, Congress will be voting on a substantial new scholarship program for low-income kids stuck in Washington, D.C. public schools. It’s called the D.C. Parental Choice Incentive Act (H.R. 2556). Many D.C. schools, despite funding levels well above the national average, are failing these kids, and this program would give them the opportunity to attend a private school. That’s why many D.C. parents, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams, and even the liberal Washington Post all support the plan.
Even with vouchers, I couldn't afford to send my kids to any of the private schools I know of, and I don't consider myself to be "poor".
So don't try to say that vouchers will give everyone more freedom.
Allie,
Even if you don't send your kids to private schools, vouchers will still improve education by making schools compete for your tax dollars and provide a market place for education that will allow you to pick which options are best for your child (children). Vouchers give parents control by allowing the free market to dictate higher quality standards of education.
I live in Southern Utah and in my area there are no private schools.
There are however some great public schools.
How are the Legislators going to ensure that I have a choice?
They're not, I have to use the public school system. So far I have no complaints.
What a scam!
I suppose the same people who support vouchers are same ones who feel the pay standards for teachers are just fine.
Or that we don't need to raise minimum wage.
Me, me, me, me, me, me!
When Schools Compete, Good Things Happen
Written By: Robert Holland
Published In: School Reform News
Publication Date: October 1, 2003
Publisher: The Heartland Institute
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Numerous studies in recent years have shown student achievement and parental satisfaction improve when families use vouchers to choose private schooling. But a nagging question has lingered: What is the effect of voucher programs on students who remain in the public schools?
Now comes an answer: The effect is good--and the more directly public schools are affected by competition from vouchers, the better.
That conclusion comes from a Manhattan Institute study of Florida’s A+ Program, Governor Jeb Bush’s signature education reform. Since the 1998-99 school year, Florida has used its high-stakes assessment test, FCAT, to grade schools from A to F. When any school receives two Fs in a four-year period, its students become eligible for vouchers they can use to transfer to private schools or other public schools.
Incentive to Improve?
To test the A+ rationale that vouchers give failing schools an incentive to improve, Manhattan scholars Jay P. Greene and Marcus A. Winters organized schools into five categories according to the imminence of voucher competition each faces:
“Voucher eligible” schools, where students already are receiving vouchers;
“Voucher threatened” schools, where one more F will make them voucher-eligible;
“Always D” schools--low-performing schools with lots of Ds on their report cards, but which have never faced an immediate threat from vouchers;
“Ever D” schools--low-performing schools with just one D on their report cards; and
“Formerly threatened” schools, which used to be voucher-threatened but no longer are.
To address any concern that schools might be devising ways to “beat” FCAT without producing gains in real learning, the scholars also checked scores on the Stanford-9, a nationally respected norm-referenced test.
The results showed a remarkably consistent pattern when test scores for each group of schools were compared to the performance of the rest of Florida’s public schools: The more the schools faced competition for students and funds spurred by vouchers, the greater the gains on the FCAT and Stanford-9 from 2001-02 to 2002-03.
Schools already voucher-eligible made the biggest improvements--up 10.1 scale score points on FCAT reading, 9.3 scale points on FCAT math, and 5.1 percentile points on the Stanford-9.
Schools immediately threatened by vouchers made the second-greatest gains--up 8.2 points on FCAT reading, 6.7 points on FCAT math, and 3 percentile points on the Stanford-9.
Schools that have never received anything but Ds for four years, or those that have received at least one D since FCAT grading began, scored slight or statistically insignificant gains, respectively. These are low-performing schools, but any threat of losing students to vouchers is two years or more down the road.
Finally, the formerly threatened schools--those that received an F in 1998-99 but not since--actually reported declining test scores. The F is a distant memory, and because a new four-year period has begun, any threat of competition is remote.
Stigma Alone Not Enough
Critics of earlier Manhattan research on the competitive effects of vouchers argued that the stigma of a failing grade, not the incentives created by vouchers, motivated schools to improve. However, the relatively poor performance of schools that have the stigma of past failure but are no longer subject to a voucher threat undermines that alternative explanation, Greene and Winters contended.
“It is implausible that the stigma effect only exists for three years and then suddenly disappears,” they wrote. “The more believable explanation is that the actuality or prospect of voucher competition provides incentives for schools to improve and this effect suddenly disappears when the four year voucher threat period expires.”
The voucher-eligible and voucher-threatened schools’ across-the-board gains on both the FCAT and Stanford-9 math tests also undercut arguments that schools simply “teach to” or manipulate high-stakes tests like FCAT.
“If schools facing voucher competition were only appearing to improve by somehow manipulating the Florida high-stakes testing system,” the Manhattan scholars observed, “we would not have seen a corresponding improvement on another test that no one had incentives to manipulate.”
The study also considered the possibility that results were shaped by what statisticians call a “regression to the mean,” which roughly translates to “when you’re at the bottom rung, there’s no way to go but up.” If that explanation applied, however, there should be little or no difference between the voucher-eligible/voucher-threatened schools and those that have similarly low performance but do not face a voucher threat. Voucher competition seems to have driven which schools improved and which did not.
“Skimming the Dregs”?
Finally, critics may argue scores are rising in the voucher-affected schools because the worst students are using their vouchers to depart for private schools. That would fly in the face of voucher foes’ arguments that vouchers “cream” the best students from public schools. Although the study unearthed no evidence this is happening, it would mean vouchers were “dredging” the worst students from public schools. In other words, vouchers would be serving the students most in need and relieving public schools of that burden.
The Manhattan study could make an impact on the debate in Congress over whether to fund a pilot voucher program to help 2,000 children from the educationally distressed District of Columbia public school system. House Education Committee Chairman John Boehner (R-Ohio), who is cosponsoring DC vouchers with House Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis (R-Virginia), said the Manhattan paper confirms “that school choice strengthens public education in America.
“When we give parents the ability to make choices about their children’s education, we give underachieving schools the incentive they need to change and improve,” Boehner noted. “Money alone is not the magic cure for what’s ailing public education.”
Given the Florida demonstration of the impact vouchers have on a variety of schools, columnist Linda Seebach of the Rocky Mountain News may have raised the most intriguing question:
“If just a little competition accomplishes so much, what would a lot of competition do?”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert Holland is a senior fellow with the Lexington Institute, a public policy think tank in Arlington, Virginia
Aren't the people who support vouchers the same ones who don't beleive in global warming?
Anonymous:
Even if your facts are correct, it is impossible to have a "perfect" program. Let's be honest, other states have had problems and you can't tell me that Utah will not have similiar problems?
Unfortunately, these same mistakes could prove costly for our state and for our children(and my children).
By the way, you're still hiding!
your right about a perfect program, but a voucher system will better than the system we have no ; a system with no choice and no freedom
boy, I can't wait till we get to the debate on teachers salaries
Anonymous:
Right now, YOU have alot of choices! No one is holding a gun to your head. YOU can send your children to any school you would like them to attend.
If you want to send them to a private school, no one is stopping you. We still live in the United States, not a dictatorship govt.
In Utah, families are constantly changing schools. Which is fine, but there is no reason all of us have to pay YOU for your kid's tuition.
The problem is that it isn't about "choice" it's about greed and you're just looking for another tax break.
For heaven's sake, we're debating about our children's future. I'm willing to bet that you are probably one of those who think teachers are over paid.
If so, then any points about public schools is not getting through to you. Your eyes and ears are closed.
Good luck my "secret and hiding anonymous".
I'm tired of debating with someone that hides.
Except in the free market, some businesses put other businesses out of business. If some "public" schools go out of business, where are all those kids going to go if they can't afford private schools even with the vouchers?
You can't have it both ways, either say that vouchers are going to give all parents a choice (which isn't true) or admit that the driving force behind vouchers is to help wealthy parents subsidize expensive private educations.
I agree that changes need to be made in public education, and if we could move past the voucher issue, maybe there would be time to talk about other options.
Allie,
Your right, some schools would go under…but what is wrong with that?
If schools are operating so poorly, that so many parents are withdrawing their kids and sending them elsewhere, then there is something wrong with the bureaucracy.
Closing of under performing schools would be a natural benefit of the free market system and parents would then have the choice to enroll their child at a school where they know their child will learn something; it is the true benefit of the voucher program that children ultimately benefit because they will be attending a school that performs and schools which under perform will go away. What is wrong with that?
Richard,
Teachers are over paid but that is an argument for another day.
Teachers are overpaid? This statement proves how out of touch voucher supporters are.
Use public money to give another tax break to the wealthy elite who don't believe that educators deserve a living wage.
Come on Utah, does this selfishness really reflect our Utah values?
Shame on you!
Let's quit making this argument about money please, and talk about the way to fix public education without ever mentioning "cash" --I dare one of the school choice proponents to do that -- tell me what you'll get in a private school that your kid isn't getting in public school. Tell me how to make the school more competitive and better without mentioning money or lack thereof.
The focus of this whole thing makes me sick -- if we really cared about education - public OR private, we wouldn't be arguing over money, we'd be talking about the very best ways to give Utah kids the best education that we can.
For some reason we've been sold on the idea that our public schools suck, that our teachers deserve whatever they get because for some reason they are the reason that education sucks, and our children are not worthy of any kind of reasonable investment.
Now, I am not going to argue for or against vouchers -- I want someone to just answer my question... if you could change how your local public school works, what would you do and why haven't you done it?
Emily,
Private schools are better for a whole host of reasons:
Smaller classes
No tenure for teachers; which makes them more accountable
In private schools values can be taught and a teacher doesn’t have to fear mentioning the name of God
No unions or UEA
No political correctness
None of this foolish talk about diversity
Stronger discipline by private schools over students
This is why I want vouchers; to give my children the type of education they deserve.
Anonymous,
I'm not going to argue with you over the items that are important to you. You are precisely right - you should be able to send your child to a private school if these are indeed the most important things to you when it comes to your child's education.
There really must be something wrong in society if parents don't feel that they can teach these values at home and must rely on a school to teach them. There is something wrong in society if we rely on a school to teach our children discipline. And if we haven't already taught our children about loving one another regardless of differences, then society is truly broken.
As for classroom sizes, teacher tenure, and unions - those are all issues about money and I have promised to leave that out of the conversation.
And, your final statement that vouchers are good because they will enable you to send a child to a school of your choice ... why can't you do it now? What's stopping you? If you tell me that you can't afford it - then you are talking about money again.
I have two children. One of my son's has had a struggle in school his entire life. Since the time this kid has been in kindergarten I have looked for alternatives to his education. I could send him to a private school, but then he'd have to live with his grandparents because we don't have any private schools in southern utah. And the tuition was so expensive that even with a voucher I could not afford to send him there... and I wouldn't want to because I want to raise my child and have him in my home. And, home school is not an alternative for our family. I commend those who can do that, but it just not something that would work for us.
So instead, I have taken control of this kid's education. He is in high school now, and it is still a constant battle. But, I am involved every step of the way. When he comes home, we go through homework, I make sure I am reading the same book that he is reading so we can discuss it (and so I can make sure he is actually reading) -I have found him a math tutor so that he can keep up in his math class. My husband is a history guy so he helps him with history and social studies. He gets his daily dose of religion at release time seminary, and our family has plenty of discussions about God and about morals, so I don't fear for his wellbeing in that regard.
We are involved in this kid's education and his life. We are not letting *anything* get in our way of helping our son to be successful.
So to me -- it's not about money. If I lived in Salt Lake, I would figure out how to send my kid to a private school and how I was going to pay for it. But that isn't an option for me because our life is here in Cedar City. And besides, this is not about money, remember?
If either of my sons needs something - music lessons, new shoes, something for soccer or scouts - we figure it out. We look at our budget and we figure out how we are going to pay for it.
Because when it comes to education, it is about doing what is best for your kid, no matter what. If you have the resources to send your kid to a private school - then do it. If you want a teacher who can say the word "God" without fear, then go find it. Figure out how to afford it if that's what you have to do.
With or without vouchers - you do have control of your child's education. I don't believe that vouchers is what stops people from doing right for their children. But for some reason, the LACK of vouchers has become the reason that parents are paralyzed into doing nothing.
Two points:
1) I'm not in favor of vouchers, but am in favor of a tuition tax credit. With vouchers, the money first goes to the state, then is disbursed back out, bringing in all the questions of appropriate use of 'public' funds (i.e., for religious texts, politically correct curriculum, etc.) Someone asked something to the effect of, "well don't you already have the choice? I.e., 'it's about the money'." Actually the money is the point -- If someone makes the choice to pay for their children's schooling, they get to pay for that, AND for someone else's schooling too. This 'choice' is a choice that *does* affect economics, because you get to pay twice. I support a tuition tax credit, but only that could bring tax owed to zero, and NOT to bring it below zero -- a 'refund' that isn't a refund, it's a subsidy. In the case of a subsidy, they are now forcing others to pay for the education of their children in a private school, the pendulum has swung too far (whereas the public school forces them to fund school for someone else's child in addition to their own).
2) Mentioning where the money comes from for Choice brought to mind the $4 billion elementary and secondary education textbook industry. Let's see some discussion undue influences wielded by these 'non-parents' over not only curriculum decisions, but many other school decisions. See The Great American Textbook Scandal here: http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2000/1030/6612178a_print.html
To anonymous--
So it's okay to have "force" others to pay for your personal choice?
TTC's are just another form of voucher, albeit in a less threatening way. Someone pays for the voucher, but in this case, it isn't you, it's the rest of us.
So there's a $4 billion textbook industry? Do you mean you don't have as much influence as a bunch of bound papers? No matter what, you STILL have the say in how your child is raised and are the main influence. If you don't, you should? Why should the rest of us pay for your lack of influence?
My parents didn't need a voucher to tell them they had more influence than it or anything else.
Jack,
You said in your post "So it's okay to have "force" others to pay for your personal choice?"
Aren't you in a way forcing me to pay for your personal choice to send your child to "public" school? Public school is not free. We all pay for it through our taxes whether we agree with what and how they teach or not.
I plan on sending my children to a private school even though I wouldn't qualify for vouchers if they had them. I'm not poor, I'm not extremely wealthy. I just want what I percieve to be the best education for my children. I have tried public school this year for my son and he basically is learning what he already learned in preschool.
As for what Allie said about teaching values in our homes, of course I teach values. Every chance I get. And it's working great. Of course, my son only spends 3 hours a day away from home at school. Next year though, he will be spending the full day at school. That doesn't leave much time to talk values.
I think that what this debate is really about is that no parent wants to think that they are not doing the best for their children. When people come in and in a way tell them that the school that they have chosen for their child "isn't good enough" it makes them feel bad. It's not that public schools aren't as good as private, they're just different. And you make the choice based on what is right for your child. Not all children do well in public schools, not all do well in private. It's a choice. But if a certain school isn't doing for my child what my child needs, shouldn't I have the choice to use MY tax dollars, not everyone elses, to educate my child the way I want him to be educated?
The symbol of the debate should be Granite District’s logo: an educator and a child giving each other “five” – only the child has no head. We need schools that respect the heads on their students’ shoulders. We should have that choice. As a parent who has had children in the public schools for the past fourteen years, and who has another eleven years to go, I support vouchers with every fiber of my being. I would love to know what a poll would look like in which every respondent was in a similar position – having several years’ experience dealing with the public schools we have now, and several more years to face. It is one thing for the general public to resist any change, but let’s hear from the ones with the greatest stake in the outcome – those who have lived with the issues every day for years, and whose children will be most immediately impacted. (Although the long run deserves consideration, a bad outcome can be adjusted over time, so the immediate impact is significant as an unalterable one.)
It is concern for the rising generations that should decide the issue.
This is an issue that we need to examine from a different frame of reference. Why do we have Public Education in the first place, and not private education? Since the beginning of this country, in most communities, children would meet in a "schoolhouse". There would be a teacher and would educate the children so we could have an educated population. We did this so we could have an educated society. If we as americans want an above average educated community, we must have a standard of excellence.
Let's look at the military as an example. The reason we all do not have "private military" i.e. take tax dollars that go to form the Military, is that we need a strong national military, because individuals do not have the money to go out and buy tanks and fighter jets. Yet I want a strong national government, so I am willing to give up Tax Dollars to support strong Defence. I also want a strong educated population, so I am willing also to give my tax dollars to Public Education. I am a republican, and a fiscal conservative as well, as I look at the Voucher debate, one thing is missing: If vouchers do not harm Public Education, and Tax dollars are going to fund vouchers to give money to private institutions, then where does the extra money come from to fund Vouchers? Can you say TAX INCREASE? Don't insult my intelligence to say that the money has already been earmarked or will come from Surplus accounts. Because all the money spent by the State Government is TAX MONEY from YOU!
Post a Comment