Vouchers

I guess this post is sort of in re to Mark's post about a private school opening up in his neck of the woods.

In my home-town rag, there was a letter to the editor from a public school teacher who - well, here it is:

Letter to the Editor: Voucher Windfall?

By LYNNE ROMNEY

Vernal Utah

Editor,

I am a public school teacher who is now extremely excited about vouchers. I have taught for 30 years in the state of Utah at a salary lower than most teachers in the nation. Now I can start my own private schools and more than double my salary in a single year for each private school I start.

It’s going to be easy to start a private school. The only requirements I must meet are to: 1. teach 40 students (easy, I now teach 180 students) 2. give a standardized test once a year (easy, I now give more than a dozen tests) 3. be audited once every four years (easy, I am accountable every year for every penny I now spend in my six science classes) 4. be college educated and or skilled (I’m better than that I’m licensed to teach and have 30 years experience).

In my private school the legislature is going to allow me to teach anything I want. I don’t have to follow the state core, and I don’t even have to teach a certain number of days or hours. I can see a lot of niches that need to be filled to help our student population, so I may want to start a chain of specialty schools. A private school for gay students, where they felt safe and respected, could be set up in every community. Specialized science schools emphasizing evolution and dedicated to the worship of Darwin would help students value their place in the world and universe. In Southern Utah, schools teaching the precepts of polygamy would be popular. The possibilities are endless. All this at taxpayer expense.

Good points all. What would be the motivation for a teacher that qualified to stick around and teach at a socialistic public school system for shit wages, when there are much better opportunities such as that?

Those schools can't help but be better than a public school.
Unlike public schools, private ones actually have to listen to what the parents say, or the kids will get yanked. They will lose their income.
Everyone knows how the public school system works so I won't go into that. They answer to the government, not parents. The government decides the 'best' way to run things, which is usually cutting back and lopping off what they consider unnecessary programs.

I would love to see the public school system go away. We pay property taxes in two states. This of course means we pay for public education in two states. We don't have kids going to school in either state, so that pisses me off.

Pay as you go? What a novel idea.




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