Submitted by PrimeFractionatar, Aug 20, 2007 19:57

The voucher "controversy" is a prime example of how special interest groups, in this case, the NEA, can twist information into false "facts." I use quotes because these are contrived and not based in Truthful unbiased information. In this case, we could rightly say, the educational system has been wounded in the house of its guardians. We would like to think that the NEA would be the epitome of having the Best Interest of the Child at the core of all their motives/choices, but that is NOT the case, it is clearly, the best interest of the the teacher that drives their policies and practices, and the Nea interest has become so myopic in this regard as to actually be no longer focused on the child's needs but on what pleases the teachers. It has become backwards. The inversion is at the expense of developing children, I mean, their lives are the price being paid. This is not right, not good, and surely, not sane. Wisdom demands that we reassess and realize that the core responsibility for a child's needs being met is NOT the Schools, IT IS THE PARENTS who BIRTHED the CHILD into life. For those inclined to relate this to who has the charge from God for the child, Is it not the parents who make the accounting for this? SO, who should have the power, which is in the ability to buy what you want? The PARENTS. This makes the natural conclusion and best case for VOUCHERS I've ever seen. As a responsible parent, you take the money and contract with a school who will help you get your child educated the way you want. You don't like the job the school did, you won't be back contracting with their failures the following year. Business acumen understands this dynamic well, and that is why vouchers will heal our ailing system that has been unable to repair itself for far too many years now. The twist the NEA spins out in their claims regarding vouchers doing great harm to the public educational system is unfounded and a crafty scare tactic. An organization that exaggerates info and/or stoops to using FEAR to continue its course, belies their intention, and makes them suspect as the best advocates for our children. Are such tactis the stuff great models of emulation are made of? I don't think so, do you? The NEA's implications are that the poor would be deprived, even more than now, and their choices would be severely limited. I ask you, "How can a check in one's hand for the bulk, if not the entirety of a child's educational expenses, be limiting, when it is giving you the money to buy services you like better than the ones that are available at the "corner school" located in you district? We don't need proof that vouchers improve student learning because, the voucher is simply the money to buy education you like better. That is the issue; vouchers have nothing to do with pedagogy. Vouchers are about parental empowerment to choose, plain and simple. With a voucher, If you don't like what you're getting for your money, would you return the following year to buy more of what you found "not good enough"? I sincerely doubt that many people would do such an unsatisfying thing. Seems to me, if one is unhappy with the teaching, they'll be shopping for greener pastures for their child the following school year, and they will be doing this because they will be empowered to do so by the mere fact of having the money to do so. Now, from my perspective, THIS IS CHOICE. What is the confusion? Why is this a destructive thing?? Also, the fact that a parent has the money, a check in hand, to take to a school which is offering a better curriculum or methodology or whatever else is the attraction of the parent for their child, doesn't preclude anyone from keeping their child in the public school if they are happy with the quality of services of that school. If the parents are happy, they aren't likely to go elsewhere, either, now are they? However, if they are dissatisfied (or angry), they'll likely leap to the opportunity to find something better. Like all competition in the marketplace, this will make schools more tuned-in to the parents demands so as to get the check. Common business sense says, if I'm losing money to my competitors, I'm going to figure out real fast what I need to change to get my buyers back. This is the power of the voucher to make change, and accelerate the responsiveness of a system not presently required to be THAT responsive because, they are are guaranteed the check no matter what. They can disgust, irritate, fall short, be great, or not and they get the money anyway. The voucher makes them realize they have to listen and figure it out because other schools will be figuring it out and getting the money simply because they are doing a better job of teaching and, thus, the child is learning better. It is a no-brainier when you untwist the lies and get to the real facts. It is simply elegant, truly. Wake up parents. You have a right to be in charge and make education responsive to what you want, and money IN YOUR HAND is the most powerful way to get this job done, AND get it done fast. Money is power to choose! How many rich people "have to put up" with disgusting schools?? I dare say few to none. Money is the way to grease the squeaky wheels of a complacent system that just can't seem to get their act together. How many more children will be offered up into this complacency before we wise up and say, "Yeah, Give me the Money!"

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