[Tacis]

Has to be the dumbest thing ever conceived. First, private school tuition will tend to rise to the voucher limits, just as Pell grants have established a rising floor of college tuition. Then, DC students will go to Virginia and Maryland, leaving the dregs of the dregs in the public schools. But, the public schools will still have to exist so total costs will not drop but rise rapidly. Finally, new private school seats will come onto the market, teaching black self-esteem and ebonics, etc., so the over all level of education will not improve over the long run.

The solution is now and always has been, to fix the public school system even if it means destroying the evil teachers' unions. Alas, private school vouchers will eventually mean that private schools (many of the, at least) will be unionized and we'll be back where we are with another 25 years worth of very badly educated inner city kids.

[madprof98]

The solution is now and always has been, to fix the public school system even if it means destroying the evil teachers' unions.

Some things can't be fixed. The Atlanta Public Schools are a good example. They cost more and more, and they produce less and less every year. For ours (and many other urban systems, I think) the DC schools represent something of an ideal: minimum competence at maximum cost. I see a tiny bit of hope in the charter school movement, but I am sending my latest child to a private religious school, and I think everyone else should have that option.

[RobbyS]

The solution is now and always has been, to fix the public school system even if it means destroying the evil teachers' unions. Alas, private school vouchers will eventually mean that private schools (many of the, at least) will be unionized and we'll be back where we are with another 25 years worth of very badly educated inner city kids. By your own logic, the public schools cannot be fixed.