Somehow it doesn’t sound as sexy when you throw the “Almost” in there, but it is something that Democrats are having to grapple with right now in a few locations.
Writing in the Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier, Democratic State Sen. Robert Ford over the weekend explains (along with Rep. Eric Bedington) why he is supporting an Opportunity Tax credit and scholarships in South Carolina for kids to escape failing schools:
We can no longer permit public policy in this state to be dictated by a “one size fits all” education system. We need to address the fact that all children are individuals and may need different ways and techniques to reach their full potential. The good Lord makes us all different, let us embrace that fact and allow parents the options to make sure their children have access to the educational system that best fits their individual needs.
In other words, our goal must be to advance academic achievement by any means necessary, both inside and outside of the current public system. That means empowering parents to find the right school or methods, whether they be public or private schools.
Meanwhile, Virginia’s Blue Commonwealth blog is questioning what he calls the “troubling” dogma within the Democratic party which opposes vouchers. His post plays off reports that Democrats in Congress are essentially moving to cut the tiny pilot program which allows low-income DC residents to attend private schools.
The Washington Post, not exactly a propaganda arm of the right, editorializes this morning that it doesn’t quite believe Rep. Dave Obey (D-Wisconsin) and other Dems in the House when they say they want to help poor children in the District of Columbia by sending them back to failing DC public schools. The paper writes:
But the debate unfolding on Capitol Hill isn’t about facts. It’s about politics and the stranglehold the teachers unions have on the Democratic Party. Why else has so much time and effort gone into trying to kill off what, in the grand scheme of government spending, is a tiny program? Why wouldn’t Congress want to get the results of a carefully calibrated scientific study before pulling the plug on a program that has proved to be enormously popular? Could the real fear be that school vouchers might actually be shown to be effective in leveling the academic playing field?
DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee gives Sam Dillon her perspective in the NY Times:
“Part of my job is to make sure that all kids get a great education, and it doesn’t matter whether that’s in charter, parochial or public schools,” Ms. Rhee said. “I don’t think vouchers are going to solve all the ills of public education, but parents who are zoned to schools that are failing kids should have options to do better by their kids.”
This whole move by Congress seems kind of silly. Do the beltway Dems really want to be loved by the teachers unions so much they are willing to piss on the futures of a few hundred kids whose families finally seem to be getting something of value from The Man?