Thursday, September 06, 2007

Utah's Voucher Law is Fundamentally Flawed

The flawed voucher law contains too many loopholes, unanswered questions, and little accountability for private voucher academy's.

Private schools are not required to be accredited like public schools.

Unaccountable private voucher schools may hire teachers without a college degree or a state license.

Private voucher schools don't have to meet the same coursework or attendance standards that public schools must meet.

14 comments:

Jesse Harris said...

It's true that private schools can hire individuals without a degree. The law states they must have significant experience in the field they teach if they lack at least a bachelor's. I, for instance, have been a serious computer junkie since preschool and have over 7 years of experience working in the field. Even though I don't have a degree in computer science, would I still be qualified to teach in the field?

Anonymous said...

You may be a qualified PC GEEK, but does that mean you are capable of teaching that information to others in a classroom setting?

You may be Jesse, but how many PC geeks do you know that are great at their field, but can't articulate well with others that are not geeks?

I want someone who has is a professional teacher, and who has studied and understands how children learn.

Anonymous said...

Amen, teaching is an art. Being smart means nothing when you stand up in front of 35 teenage know-it-alls and attempt to change their lives.

Telling them to do the even problems in their textbook is a poor excuse for teaching and telling them how smart and qualified you are will not get you very far.

Effective teachers are so good that sometimes they make it look easy and graceful. It is a wonderful thing when it comes together in the classroom.

I hope that people can maintain respect for the thousands of dedicated teachers who do their jobs daily in the face of raging disrespect and contempt, much of it spilling over from pro-voucher arguments.

Cameron said...

Personal experience has taught me that a teaching certificate does not a great teacher make.

Anonymous said...

I still fail too see why pro-active parents who sacrifice to send their children to private schools are being punished by the status quote of education.

Educrats and thugs in teacher unions are scared of loosing their power.

Could it be that private schools, threaten their way of life?

Vote yes for vouchers – support those parents who choose to take the high road and avoid the meritocracy of the public school system.

Anonymous said...

Educrats and thugs in teacher unions are scared of loosing their power.

Black helicopters anyone?

Anonymous said...

"Personal experience has taught me that a teaching certificate does not a great teacher make."

Funny how voucher supporters care so much for a supposedly top rate education, but they don't believe that teachers need the same.

DUH!

Anonymous said...

I'm not gay. I have never been gay.

Anonymous said...

Republican Senator Larry Craig,
don't let the bathroom door hit ya in the ass on the way out.

Craig said...

Anyone who's been to college recently knows that education departments are not the most rigorous, focusing more on questionable teaching "philosophy" than on subject matter. Students in these departments have lower test scores than those in other fields. So I'm not sure why an education degree is considered to be such a defining characteristic.

jess said...

yeah, what craig said.

Anonymous said...

Anon,
"Educrats and thugs in teacher unions are scared of loosing their power."
That's funny! But the teacher's association (they don't have a union) has no power. And I'm trying to figure out what you are saying with the label "Educrats".
But, hey that's funny stuff right there, Git 'er Done!

Jason Bourne said...

We have a failing public school system which continues to suck down more and more money while delivering less in terms of well educated graduates.

We continue to fall behind the rest of the world in both the quality of our educational output and the quantity.

Tanya Clay House of the ultra-liberal People for the American Way recently declared, "We've never seen a shred of credible evidence that shows school vouchers actually help students learn. While all public schools must demonstrate success under No Child Left Behind, private schools are not held to the same level of accountability for their performance."

But lets ask the question another way, speaking of those same shreds of evidence, we've not seen many that point to those now in charge of that public school system having the ability to turn that around. In fact, there seems to be more evidence than not that they're incapable of doing so.

So the question becomes how competition could be any worse than monopoly? How could allowing the consumer of the education product to choose that which they find to best fill their own childrens needs be any worse than the arbitrary standards and needs of the monopoly?

From the side of the political spectrum which claims to be for "choice" this should be an issue for which they are fighting for the choice vouchers bring, not against.

Jason Bourne

Anonymous said...

I think we're losing sight of individuality in this rebutle. Some teachers with a certificate aren't as qualified as someone who has the personality and work experience but not the certificate. And vice versa. Just because you have the certificate, doesn't mean your the best choice of teacher.
My point is, if we allow only people with a teaching certificate to teach and influence kids, maybe we're depriving them of valuable knowledge only certain people can give.
Yet; maybe the fact that having to have a certificate to teach would motivate people to get one.
Really we have to weigh the possibilities. I'd rather give everyone the opportunity to teach, and filter the outcome by other means than a teaching cerificate.