> The Public schools in America stink. They are drastically overfunded. It's been complained that school vouchers would reduce funding for public schools. Well, by all means. The system is failing. Let it fail. The public schools spend million campaigning for and against propositions and candidates. They've become a political entity.
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> It's been said the private schools which take vouchers would not be accountable for how they spend the money. Not true. They would have the best accountability possible-the parents. Rather than saying that the government decides which schools are bad, and which schools are worthy of being funded, parents could have the choice of where to put their children, and how their tax dollars are spent.
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> The problems that plague the public schools are incomptence and lack of accountability. The teacher's union in America is incredibly powerful. All teachers are forced to pay union dues, whether they chose to join or not. And the unions constantly fight for more funding. If the government opened up the system to allow parents to decide how their education dollars would be spent, the public schools would be forced to change in order to survive. Some, probably wouldn't. But I'm less concerned about the system than I am about education in America.
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> Sure, the money would also most likely help parents whose children are already in private school. But don't they deserve to be helped? It's a big investment to put your kids through a school which you pay for... and which you're paying for twice, through taxes. They're already paying money to the government for education. Why shouldn't they receive the benefits?
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> Continuing to throw money at the public schools won't fix them. Both candidates for president have promised to fill the Pentagon with truckloads of thousand dollar bills, but that isn't the answer for our military either. The best way to improve education is by accountability, and the best kind of accountability is the one in which parents, rather than the government, decide for themselves.
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> Mark"I'm right, and the rest of the world is wrong!"N

Mark,
Thank you for your input, but I suppose you and I should agree to disagree. I spent 33 years as a teacher in public schools, attended five national conventions, countless state conventions and lobbied the state legislature. I have two grandchildren in private school and two in public school. I have another grandchild in a private pre-school, but I don't suppose that counts. He turned 3 today. Anyway, the point is that school funding is a subject very close to my heart and I have learned a great deal about it. Public schools are not in great shape, but the problem lies with politicians, not educators.
Howard