erandolph Loc: La Pine, Oregon USA

From the Payson Round up:

The Arizona Legislature seems hell-bent on destroying public schools.

Witness the rush to approve SB1491, which will hand over $5,600 to any parent who wants to take their child out of public schools. The money will go to home schoolers, private and religious schools.

The proposed expansion of “empowerment scholarships” represents a breath-taking attack on public schools – coupled with a stomach-turning dose of hypocrisy.

The legislature has been weeping “parent choice” crocodile tears for years – preparing for this shameless attack on public schools. So let’s review the dismaying history of a program that seems likely to mostly benefit wealthy parents who can afford to pull their children out of badly underfunded public schools and then cover the gap between the $5,600 voucher and the full cost of private school tuition.

Lawmakers piously approved “empowerment scholarships” some years ago, supposedly to help handicapped and learning disabled students who were not getting adequate services in public school. Then lawmakers added parents on active military duty, foster parents, those living on Indian Reservations and anyone with children attending “failing” public schools. The Joint Legislative Budget Committee figures the total of potentially eligible children comes to about 186,000.

In 2015-16, this diverted $20 million from public schools to private schools. An analysis by the Arizona Republic concluded that most of the parents who took advantage of the vouchers lived in high-wealth school districts whose children attended relatively high performing schools. Only $6 million went to parents whose children attended schools rated “D” or “F.”

A bill to offer vouchers to any of the 1.1 million children in public schools statewide was introduced last year. But Gov. Doug Ducey asked the sponsor to drop the bill to avoid undercutting the effort to convince voters to pass Proposition 123, which settled a lawsuit stemming from lawmakers decision to illegally withhold a voter-mandated inflation adjustment for schools.

Now with Prop. 123 safely approved, the senate has voted to expand the voucher program. Sen. Debbie Lasko argued the vouchers would save the state money – since the voucher costs $5,600, but the average cost of a student in K-12 schools comes to $9,400.

However, the non-partisan Joint Legislative Budget Committee this week released an analysis that made a lie of that claim. The $9,400 figure includes state and local money. In fact, if 5 percent of the state’s students use the vouchers, it would cost the state budget $26 million. If the 2,600 kindergartners who currently start out in private school also get vouchers, it will add another $22 million to the net cost.

Mind you, the bill provides no accountability – despite audits that show much of the money handed out has already been misspent. That smacks of hypocrisy – since these same lawmakers have burdened public schools with expensive micromanaging – from tests to audits to restrictions on the length of every class. But the vouchers would come with no strings or oversight for the private schools.

So first lawmakers slash school funding, creating the worst-funded school system in the country. Then they pay wealthy parents to pull their kids out of the schools they cheated and neglected.

Clearly, lawmakers want to destroy public schools.

But for the life of us, we can’t understand why.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Did it occur to you that public schools are already destroyed. They are dysfunctional social experiments not actually teaching anything worth while and that is why the USA in spite of spending more money per student has the worst educated students in the world of modern nations. It is the teachers union being threatened not education. It is creating a competitive environment. If the public school were educating and doing a good job the parents would have no incentive to move the student out of the public school. I grew up in AZ and the Catholic "Religious" schools regularly outscored all public schools and had higer academic standards etc.
In other words your premise is completely flawed so all you have built on the flawed premise is worthless garbage driveled out by the teacher's union and leftist social experimenters. PS My father was a teacher, principal and superintendent and a special council to the Governor on education in AZ. Also I still have many relatives in the education system in AZ and they mostly all have said the same as I have written.

richosob Loc: Lambertville, MI

I believe the children will get a better education in private and parochial schools. Parents have the right to give their children a choice for an education and their tax dollars should go to the school they chose.

Rich

JamesCurran Loc: Trenton ,NJ

Your argument is self-defeating. All those other schools in nations with better education are mostly public. (and with strong teachers unions).




The problem is that it's creating a competitive environment with one side not being allowed to compete. Public school are being told to compete while the people is charge are directly trying to destroy them, and have just given the other side an advantage.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

You are as stupid as you sound. They are not ALL public schools in other parts of the world, learned that from my late English wife. And more importantly they are not social experiments but the sole purpose is to teach science, math, language, history and other needed courses in order to succeed in the real world. Not like our public schools teaching condom use, transgender rights, how to attack conservatives and riot when you don't get your way.
You obviously know absolutely nothing. If USA public schools taught real and useful curricula then there would be virtually no push for home schooling etc. So get a life and learn before speaking stupidly.

JamesCurran Loc: Trenton ,NJ

Actually, I said "mostly public".



Well, we could argue whether of not human right and sex ed are "needed courses in order to succeed in the real world", but essentially you are demonstrably wrong. Let's take for example, Canada, which has significantly better PISA scores than the US.

94% of students go to public schools, and the 8 grade curriculum includes "growth and development education focuses on an understanding of sexuality in its broadest context – sexual development, reproductive health, interpersonal relationships, affection, abstinence, body image, and gender roles. Acquiring information and skills and developing attitudes, beliefs, and values related to identity and relationships are lifelong processes."

Links backing up what i said....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_Student_Assessment#PISA_2015
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Canada

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/health18curr.txt

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Have you lived in these other countries? have your kids gone to their schools?
I have and mine have. I think I know the difference and well know from direct family members in the system first hand not fake news or some Google search from those not really there.

jim quist Loc: Missouri

Our public school is good here. Our youngest daughter is in high school. We enrolled our granddaughter in a private school of the smaller student-teacher ratio. They are both getting a quality education.

If our public school had gang problems and drug problems it would be beneficial to send our kids to private schools to get away from it. I think if public schools are afraid they will lose students, then they should take care of those, and other problems, and increase the value of public education.

Make public education so safe and good that parents don't want to pull their kids out.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Exactly my point.

FlyingTiger Loc: Tortola, BVI

My God, are you ever stupid.

FlyingTiger Loc: Tortola, BVI

Actually you are a lying sack of shit.

FlyingTiger Loc: Tortola, BVI

Of course he has NO experience with those other countries. He is just running his mouth like all lying liberals do.

FlyingTiger Loc: Tortola, BVI

This is WONDERFUL news for Arizona.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

gmcase Loc: Galt's Gulch

True but Progressives instinctively despise anything close to liberty. Like all good group thinkers they respond like conditioned dogs to anything that leads to more individual liberty. Their god, the State, must be protected and all under its boot must be forced into lowest denominator thinking. Pitiful.