Posted on 12/11/2010 4:24:08 AM PST by Jacquerie
Florida Gov.-elect Rick Scott on Thursday blew the door wide open to the idea of a voucherlike program for all students, saying he's working with lawmakers to allow state education dollars to follow a student to the school his or her parents choose.
"So if the parents want to spend it on virtual school, then spend it on virtual school," he continued. "If they want to spend it on, you know, whatever education system they believe in, whether it's this public school or that public school or this private school or that private school, that's what ought to happen."
(Excerpt) Read more at tampabay.com ...
If FL can get this done, they’ll be the #1 state in the USA.
Afternoon, evening...anytime is fine with me!
But they may not for this one because it’s not really a voucher...
it’s voucherlike.
...so...not so bad, right?
and if my kids aren’t here yet.. can i collect the voucher and save it for when they are?
IOW, people with no kids... getting no benefit whatsoever from the public school system... can they receive a voucher to spend on the ‘education’ system they choose?
If they pass only half of what the liberal media fear, FL will position itself for real growth while other states knee-walk to the feds for bailout funds.
South Carolina elected a no-nonsense retired general to run the state’s public schools.
And I understand that state welfare benefits are getting cut 20% in February.
We’ll see how well our new governor does against the good ‘ol boy RINOs.
It should get quite interesting in the south in 2011.
Sounds like Scott is willing to do unlimited vouchers without all the testing and school ranking...I think thats great!
I do not like all the testing, school grading, FCAT nonsense....that is just more big government. Vouchers should be based on individual students, not the school they attend
The best thing will be all of the fights with the feds.
...and so now the schools have to look at students as their customers, not politicians. If Scott pulls this off, it will be VERY INTERESTING to see how the schools behave:
“Oh, you don’t want your kid taught condom use - no problem, most of our other ‘customers’ don’t either”
“Oh, you want your kid taught to do math without a calculator - no problem, most of our other ‘customers’ want that too”
“Oh, you think that spending 15 class hours per week on environmental causes is a bit too much - - no problem, most of our other ‘customers’ think that too”
“Oh, you don’t want the gay agenda in this school - no problem, most of our other ‘customers’ don’t want it either”
...and if the answers are not as above, no problem, there will ALWAYS be schools available that do respect parents.
He who has the money has the power. Give that money to the parents and watch the power move with it.
Think about it this way - the Soviet Union was not very well known for its customer service at its government-run stores. Why should they care, it’s the government they answered to. It was always a bit different here - because consumers had the money and the choice.
I recently listened to our new state senate President on local talk radio.
He goal is to reduce state spending this coming year and get control of Medicaid, our largest single expense.
If all goes well, our Supreme Court will be faced with issues they recently ruled against. The difference today is the conservative tidal wave and the example set by Iowa when voters booted three supremes.
Very interesting indeed.
The teachers unions will rightly view any such initiative as a declaration of war. FL will be the proxy battle ground for a national discussion on the purpose of schooling.
“The teachers unions will rightly view any such initiative as a declaration of war. FL will be the proxy battle ground for a national discussion on the purpose of schooling.”
TOTALLY!!
They know the stakes. Most parent, unfortunately, don’t. The unions will use their time-tested technique of pulling at the heartstrings of the white suburban families - the ones presently sending their kids to those ‘wonderful’ schools (as they say in NEA-land). Get those parent agitated against vouchers (i.e., the threat of ‘those kids’ coming into their schools on vouchers), and it gets very tough for even Republicans to hold out - regardless of how rational the the threat is.
It is interesting that practically every parent with a kid in public school has complaints about the school - but those same parents seem perfectly happy with their supermarket, gas station, and car (if non-union built). And maybe 1% of the parents know where the rut of the problem is - the rest think it’s just silly administrators.
we are gonna take back this country one battle at a time.
Well, Jacquerie, let’s get Biblical, with apologies to Moses.
The South will lead America out of the liberal wilderness.
This is an idea whose time has come. I’m homeschooling now, using some online classes that do not come cheap. Our daughter is taking the SSAT this morning, and Catholic high school will cost us at least $10K a year. Whenever we drive past a gargantuan public-school plant, with tennis courts and all manner of goodies, I keep thinking that I am the one paying for it. It’s just not right.
Good on you. Your daughter will never be able to look back and think her parents did not do the best they could.
Very, very interesting!
Only if you want property taxes the size of New Jersey!
Michelle Rhee has joined Rick Scott’s education transition team. Only good can come from that. As chancellor of the D.C. Public Schools, she fired 400 teachers in four years and butted heads with their unions.
“Kids are getting a really crappy education right now,” Rhee said emphatically in the award-winning documentary “Waiting for Superman.” She’s a strong advocate for ending teacher tenure and implementing merit pay.
Her service to Scott and Florida is unpaid!
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