How exactly will this work? Will kids in Northview Heights be allowed to attend North Hills or North Allegheny, will kids in Clairton be allowed to attend Thomas Jefferson, will kids in the Hill District be allowed to attend Fox Chapel? Would they turn it into a County-Wide Public School System?
Republicans and School Choice
- Thread starter Piranha
- Start date
Vouchers to be spent at private schools. NOT charter schools, as they are under the local school boards, most of which are in mortal fear of the unions. Make the voucher for some high % of the amount spent for pupil in the district....like 90%. This gives the district a $$ break, as the taxes don't change. Families can then use it at private schools.
I haven't seen a cogent plan for transfers to other public schools, and transportation can be a thorny issue. These vouchers should be need-based. A kid from NA usually won't qualify.
Of course, that's not the plan. And the local governments ALREADY are involved, since they're the people who run the public schools.
Vouchers are simply a redirection of existing taxes, to the betterment of the kids....NOT the unions.
So what if every kid wants to go to Upper St. Clair?
My money is just as good as yours; if your kid gets in, but mine doesn't, I'm gonna do what Donald would do: I'm suing.
You all do realize why pricey private schools exist right? It isn't to benefit poor inner city kids but to get away from them.
I'm not talking about public-to-public....that would require some form of acceptance by both districts, the student's family pays any disparity in cost/student, and the receiving school would have space limitations.........the private schools already do that.So what if every kid wants to go to Upper St. Clair?
My money is just as good as yours; if your kid gets in, but mine doesn't, I'm gonna do what Donald would do: I'm suing.
What do you do if 50,000 kids from below average schools in Western PA want to attend the better schools and these better schools run out of room for them? Let's say kids all along Route 28 want to attend Fox Chapel or Shadyside Academy, kids in the South Hills want to attend Mt. Lebanon who doesn't bus, kids from Butler, Freedom, Rochester, and Ambridge want to attend North Catholic or Seneca Valley. Who decides who gets accepted and who doesn't, and who is paying for the transportation?
Where are Mt Lebanon, Upper St Clair, Quaker Valley, North Allegheny, Fox Chapel, and Seneca Valley rated?
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This is the problem with politicians who make promises about subjects that they themselves know nothing about.
What could Donald Trump possibly know about schools? He was never around them while his children were growing-up. And I doubt whether a child that he spawned ever saw the inside of a public school.
How would this work in reality? Is the idea that new private school would spring up to accommodate these kids?
Rinse and repeat.
Some hair brained simple idea and off to the races without even beginning to comprehend the full implications of what they are screeching about.
I like the idea of providing poor kids the same educational resources and opportunities as the wealthier kids. How do you think the Republicans in these wealthier communities will react to having Jr. attend school with kids from the projects?
Their version of school choice is only for a kid to go from a public school to a private. There is no way in hell that anyone in Fox Chapel is going to support the idea of a Homewood kid getting a voucher to go to Fox Chapel High School.
So how about this - I'll support school choice provided that the voucher entitles you to be able to attend the public school of your choice AND the private school of your choice. Sound fair? Until then, I vote no. (and for the record, I send my kids to private school for the religious aspect of it and while I'd love to get a voucher for some free schooling, I understand that it isn't the right decision for everyone).
Yep. My point exactly.
Schools - no choice
Health insurance - no choice
Minimum wage - no choice
Cheap energy - no choice
Exercise religion - no choice
Etc.
So what if every kid wants to go to Upper St. Clair?
My money is just as good as yours; if your kid gets in, but mine doesn't, I'm gonna do what Donald would do: I'm suing.
Don't know for sure but first come first serve sounds pretty good.
This is a bingo!!!!!
It is opposed for one reason and one reason only. To maintain the status quo and block progress.
Beholden to the teachers unions and the Nutz Sitters --the public sector education bureaucrats.
Left over burned out hippies and their PC heirs.
Killing our schools ; our ratings are headed to third world sewer like numbers someday.
school choice won't change that. thrown almost everything at changing those numbers over the past 40+ years. that's a poor reason to implement school vouchers.
First of all.....I discussed only using the vouchers for private schools. And don't forget that the family has to pay any add'l costs. The applications would go to the schools, who, as private entities, can set their standards. If a kid goes to a private school, now, the home district MUST provide transportation within a 10-mile radius. Beyond that...the family figures it out. If there is an overabundance of applications.....private schools will expand, or new schools will open. It's known as SUPPLY & DEMAND. I know libs are all about protected monopolies for their underperforming legions. Tough: Compete or die.
What if the private school has academic standards that are so stringent that most of the new students who apply don't qualify? Will they be forced to lower their standards - since they're accepting federal monies? (And don't think that it couldn't happen.....)
No, you're all for the status quo. Maybe if kids from the projects got a chance to go to Shadyside or CCHS, instead of sitting in the failing Pgh schools....which are COMPLETELY controlled by the union...check the bios of the Board.
If only a handful get that help, word will spread...and the public system will have to compete or be replaced. I wish it could happen overnight.
They are NOT accepting Federal $$$. The voucher is for the local taxpayer's share of the revenue spent.
Interesting how libs find every excuse to preserve the status quo....which is, for millions of kids....a failure.
Let's look at this for a minute. Suppose a Shady Side Academy student's family lives in Pittsburgh, where cost per student at PPS is $21k per year. The family is wealthy and currently spends $25k per year to send Thurmond to SSA. With such a voucher system, that family now only spends $4k per year, right?
Please explain: so none of the voucher-money will come from any federal dollars - not even indirectly, as via filtered thru a public school district?
That's one option. Lots of plan types are possible. Frankly, I'd throw the Feds out of public schools....waste of money.
But chew on this:
openpagov.org
2012-13 school year:
Spending per student:
Mt. Lebanon........$15,000
North Allegheny...$15,580
Pittsburgh............$22,103
So, why do people send their kids to private schools?? Pgh must be better than those leafy suburban disasters.
OK libs, trot out the usual "woe is me" list of phony excuses. Anybody check out the Pgh. School Board Bios??
Gee, do you not understand "needs-based"?? My kids wouldn't qualify, and they all went to good schools. Some went to Catholic Schools, all went to public high schools.
You right wingers are looking for a free hand out. Whoever said education was a right???? Pay for school for your kids like I do (my kids go to private school) and stop looking for a government hand out.
OK with me.You right wingers are looking for a free hand out. Whoever said education was a right???? Pay for school for your kids like I do (my kids go to private school) and stop looking for a government hand out.
I have no kids.
I'm not gonna say "woe to" anyone. But you're leaving-out one important fact: that the Pittsburgh City schools have to over-pay teachers to get teachers.
I have close friends who teach in the city, and there's no way that they'd be there if it wasn't for the money. And no, they're not bad, desperate teachers who needed jobs; they've turned-down jobs in the 'burbs because the burbs don't pay what they're making in the city. (And no, they don't live in the city....)
Nurses make more money working in the city, too. UPMC nurses working in the suburban hospitals don't make what the UPMC nurses in the city make. You'd think, "Same UPMC + same job description = same money". But it doesn't work-out that way. City nurses get paid more for the hassle of driving into the city, parking, etc. And the difference in money is substantial, not a few pennies per hour.
Wow. Could you see yourself teaching a class to these posters....asking the same questions over and over again? And no apparent ability to conjecture a solution to their own questions?
I feel sorry for teachers.
what about kids in rural areas with crap schools? no one is going to set up private schools out there that will be worth a damn.
Nice try....what MAKES the city schools so bad?? Why does it cost 50% more, and produce MUCH WORSE RESULTS than suburban poverty areas like low-paying Mt. Lebo & the slums of Franklin Park?? Perhaps your friends just want more money?? Why do private schools in the city have much better results?? Do CCHS teachers make as much as those at Allderdice??
As usual....no solution, just keep the school cabal in place. Ranked 30th in the world.....used to be top 5 before unionization. But that's a coincidence.
If teachers that cared about the kids could teach them in rural schools......private schools would be there. Now, the rural poor have no choice. Competition improves everything. Libs hate that, if gives their slaves real opportunity.
