You think we should be spending less than $8 K per pupil per year educating our kids? Since we have at least 2 taxpayers per pupil, you're claiming an expense of $4K a year forces two parents into the workforce?
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Regarding: Message #419
Using the comment "Bull" does not address my points. If you could refute them, you would have, but I see that you haven't. Calling them "Bull" will not make these arguments go away and thoughtful readers will see the truth.
In 2003, government K-12 schools cost nearly $11,000 per year, per government K-12 child, and this is a deliberate underestimate. It is likely closer to $12,000 or more today.
http://www.reformk12.com/archives/000174.nclk
Regarding: Private school scarcity
But,,,government schools are a price-fixed monopoly. This creates a very hostile environment for the creation of private schools. Scarcity also forces parents to use government schools.
If government were to open food distribution centers giving away free food, how long would ordinary private grocery stores remain in business?
What you would see would be very few private grocery stores providing ordinary food, but we would see a few gourmet food stores catering to the tastes of the wealthy.
This is what we see today in private schooling. In many parts of the nation, especially those states that came into existance after the creation of government schooling, there are very few modestly priced private schools but there are a few "gourmet" private schools catering to the social tastes of the rich.
Regarding schools making children illiterate:
Yes, the reading and math methods used in government schools make children illiterate and innumerate. Then when grown they are unfit as parents to homeschool.
Regarding vouchers and tax credits:
I personally favor tax credits but only as a means of weaning parents from the government teat. Government education is by far one of the biggest entitlements to the rich and middle classes that I can thing of.
In regard to vouchers, you claim that it will not "decrease per pupil expenditure that much."
The wars over curriculum and school policies, of which evolution is merely one of hundreds, is NOT about per pupil spending. It is about Freedom of Conscience!
Government does not have the right to FORCE children into its indoctrination centers and impose upon them a curriculum that would establish the worldview of the politically powerful and undermine the worldview of those with less power. This applies equally to both the evolutionists and the IDers.
You are a pro-evolutionist and are defending government schools. It is an anecdotal observation but it does seem that most evolutionists and secularists are government school defenders and oppose freedom of choice in K-12 education.
In 2003, government K-12 schools cost nearly $11,000 per year, per government K-12 child, and this is a deliberate underestimate. It is likely closer to $12,000 or more today.In my state, per pupil expenditure was less than $8K in 2005. Maybe you should do something about your state and local government rather than railing about mine.
Yes, the reading and math methods used in government schools make children illiterate and innumerate.
My oldest kid left Lincoln Public schools having completed a full university calculus sequence, went on to a dual physics math major, and is now in grad. school in the hard sciences.
The wars over curriculum and school policies, of which evolution is merely one of hundreds, is NOT about per pupil spending. It is about Freedom of Conscience!
You are entitled to believe any freaky thing you want about the world. You are not free to teach your religion under the guise of biology to minor children. That interferes with their freedom of conscience.
Government does not have the right to FORCE children into its indoctrination centers and impose upon them a curriculum that would establish the worldview of the politically powerful and undermine the worldview of those with less power. This applies equally to both the evolutionists and the IDers.
Government has the duty to secure minimal educational standards for children, since it's an unfortunate fact that many parents, left to their own devices, will not do so. The alternatives are to maintain public schools, or regulate carefully a system of private schools (as some other countries do), which IMO would create even more problems. Every advanced society in the world has one of these two systems. You would return us to the dark ages.