From: janner@cactus.org (Jeffrey W. Janner)
Subject: Re: private schools, vouchers, etc.
Summary: What all you bloke's are forgetting is....
Organization: Capital Area Central Texas UNIX Society, Austin, Tx
Distribution: tx
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 05:01:43 GMT



A)  Private schools are currently the domain of the upper- & middle-upper-
classes.   The first vouchers issued would be used by this group almost 
exclusively (to lower the cost of their own childs tuition).

B)  Private schools *PRIDE* themselves on their reputations for excellence.
Therefore, the majority of new schools & branch campuses would be opened
in areas where they (the school honchos) think they have the best chance
of attracting high-quality students.

C)  The *current* growth market for this class of student is in predominately
middle-to-upper class neighborhoods.

D)  There is currently a big credit crunch in the U.S.A.  (if you don't
believe me, go down to your local bank-like place & check out the interest
rates being paid & charged.)  (Also ask them about their credit reqs.)
Where are the socially conscious educators going to get the money to open 
their inner-city schools?  Until there is a proven profitablility track for
this type of institution, your major financial source will remain
unavailable.

E)  The government just loves to regulate.  If you get any of their money,
it isn't long before they are telling you what you can do with it.  Some
bureauracy will eventually get set up to *regulate* the private schools
from a public standpoint (Under the guise of accreditation no doubt).  Gone
will be the oportunity to set up small operations with a handful of good
well-qualified teachers.  There will be class-size limits, student-teacher
ratios, administrator-teacher ratios, (this beginning to sound familiar?)
etc.

Taking all of the above into account, how long do you think it will be 
before good, quality schools make it to the inner cities (or rural areas
to point out another Texas problem)?  Two years?  Five years?  Ten years?
My bet is that the option will not be effectivly available to needy youths
before the current crop of 1st graders graduate high-school (or maybe
college (if many of them live that long)).

BTW: I was educated in a small town, not quite rural, school & when I hit
college, I discovered that I was about 4-5 years behind my classmates from
the metroplex-areas (D/FW, Houston, etc.) schools in some subjects.  My
basic knowledge was just as good, but there were not even intro. courses
offered in the field that I eventually went into.  This should point out
some of the glaring inequities that exist in the current ed. system & why
there is currently a court & leg. battle going on.

BBTW:  Both of my in-laws work for a border-area school district & I can
state for a *fact* that the number one problem (NUMERO UNO) is a lack of
discipline & a lack of an effective method to enforce discipline.  (It
also ight help if more of the teachers/administrator took an active 
interest in the *kids* rather than just punching a time-clock and
considering themselves as under-paid babysitters!)


Jeff Janner          janner@cactus.org  (or see above)
.sig on order.  Gotta finish _Mostly Harmless_ first. (D.Adams)
Newsgroups: tx.general