Florida Supreme Court, Official Photo.
As if competition is a bad thing.
Where is the outcry for "choice"? Oh wait... that doesn't apply to schools.
Well, Heaven forbid the public school system have to compete....then they might actually have to produce. Amend the state constitution immediately, imho
The court also said that the state constitution specificlaly requires public education to be even and equal and that vouchers would give some kids a superior education... sounds like a constitituional amendment is need ed to allow vouchers.
I like the first three words in the title, "Fla. Court Kills...". It seems so appropriate for what passes as justice in Florida these days.
the Flori-Duh Kangaroos Kourts strikes again!!
"The Florida Supreme Court struck down a statewide voucher system Thursday that allowed children to attend private schools at taxpayer expense"
Yet you can go to a private university at taxpayer expense...
And let the judges try to order an increase in taxes. Taxation without representation can only go on for so long.
Florida Supreme Court, Official Photo.
It's time to try something else. Vouchers just won't fly at the moment.
So how about this: everyone that sends their child to a private school gets a tax refund equal to some fraction of the amount they would have spent in taxes to educate their child in a public system.
Someone with a $2000 property tax bill where $1000 was used for public education might get a $750 refund if they sent their child to a private school, for example.
This to me seems completely fair and would be a good start.
This has almost nothing to do with "separation of church and state" (not a Constitutional imperative anyway). It has everything to do with the relative strength of teachers' unions and political clout at various levels.
Apparently even "non-denominational" private schools are also excluded from participating in the program.
The ultimate losers are the children who, for want of a viable alternative, are forced to be warehoused in non-performing public schools, and doomed to a life of unrealized potential. Not all of them, of course, as there shall be some very savvy students who rise above the limitations of their scholastic surroundings, and manage to teach themselves, becoming true stars of learning excellence.
But these same individuals may very well have fallen into a cycle of despair and failure instead. And that would have been the unforgivable crime against all humanity.
A kid could just purposefully fail a couple of years just to make taxpayers pay for private schooling.
Not only that, but why should I have to pay for your kid to go to private school, when I can't afford it myself?
AND, kids who fail a lot are generally troublemakers. If I paid for my kids to go to private school, I would not want a bunch of these kids there.
I don't get this voucher thing. And I don't get why conservatives are generally for it. It is a socialist program. Want a good education for your children? Work hard, pay the tuition for your own kid, or homeschool them.
Now, improving public schools is another argument.
On we go to the Alito/Roberts Supreme Court!!!
Legislating from the bench again. Florida schools are doomed. The Courts have put the legislature in a straight jacket. Basically, they are blackballing any idea that the legislature might come up with that would fix the problem, other than the higher taxes, which the voters will reject. So that leaves the Florida schools with no alternative but to sink further into the mire.
What's wrong with giving largely failed, or at best mediocre public schools some competition? And public education isn't "free." One could easily make the argument that the public money spent on the existing public education system could be put to better use. Public schools aren't any more "free" than private schools.
There is nothing free about public schools when they are run by unionized public workers. They are socialist training camps.
Free school uniforms?
The constitution of the state that I live in says that the state will establish and maintain a public school system. It does not say that the state will subsidize private schools. If people don't like it then change their state constitution.