From: wbralick@afit.af.mil (Will Bralick)
Subject: Re: Chelsea's school ...
Keywords: school choice, hypocrisy
Organization: Self-similar
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 03:24:31 GMT


In article <nate.1034@psygate.psych.indiana.edu> nate@psygate.psych.indiana.edu (Nathan Engle) writes:
| In article <1993Jan7.020331.8836@afit.af.mil> wbralick@afit.af.mil (Will Bralick) writes:
| 
| >Well, Miss Chelsea Clinton will avoid going to public school this 
| >year by virtue of her parents' money and connections.
| 
|     Yep. To tell you the truth I'm not sure I can really blame them.

Let's be clear, I don't either.  If I lived in Washington D.C. and could
not afford private school (or have the connections to get bumped up the
waiting list like some people) then I would home school.

| They 
| have the financial means to place her in the private school and I'm sure 
| that it will be much easier to handle the security in a private school 
| than it would be in a DC public school (where the student body might be 
| better armed than the Secret Service agents in charge).

I don't think so.  Miss Amy Carter had unique security needs, too, and
she attended public school.

| >As Mr. Limbaugh pointed out today, Gov. Clinton opposes school choice for 
| >middle and lower class people, but not members of his own economic class.
| 
|     Perhaps. He definitely opposes policies which would result in a 
| wholesale exodus of funding from already sagging public schools.

The implicit point here is that it is unimportant what kind of education
the children get, so long as _public schools_ survive.  Policy wonks are
policy wonks and they like policies better than they like people.

| I'm afraid that there's a difference of opinion on what peoples' 
| responsibilities should be in supporting public education. Some people 
| seem to think that the money they pay into public education should be 
| refundable if they send their kids to private schools. Personally, I 
| don't even have kids, but I don't expect to get back any of the money 
| I contribute to the public system. 

You are not looking at it correctly.  Let us posit that public funding
for education is a social good, i.e. that the entire society benefits
from it.  The question then becomes how best to provide it.  In kind or
by a grant which can then be spent by the responsible parties.  I think
that we can see that just throwing more money at the public education
system is not going to produce an educated people.  It is not clear that
the public education system as such is necessary to producing an educated
people.
 
|     To me Bush's "School Choice" plans sound a lot like a bunch of 
| disgruntled parents wanting to suckle up to another governmental teat. I 
| know that some people are going to have the reaction that those parents 
| aren't asking for a handout, but rather to have control over where their 
| kids' education dollars go, however I would simply have to comment that 
| I've been kicking into the public education kitty for years and I've 
| never had kids taking advantage of any of the money I've paid. If 
| disgruntled parents can get refunds on "their share" of public education 
| money then why can't I get a refund on mine?

Simple.  Have some kids.  There are quite a few kids out there who need
adoption.  Of course, you could always ``roll your own...''

|     IMHO before we start handing out what are essentially tax refunds for 
| disgruntled parents we ought to look at giving those same refunds to people 
| who don't burden the education system at all.

And whose infecundity contributes no creative minds to the future...

| At that point maybe it will 
| become obvious that tax money paid for public education is not tagged for 
| the personal use of any individual kids, and that even people who don't 
| have kids using the system enjoy benefits as a result of living in a 
| society which provides its citizens with a basic education.

We agree that education is a social good.  The question then becomes,
"how best to provide it?"  I think that the public education system is
bankrupt, financially and educationally.  I am not convinced that we 
would not be better off without it.  

Regards,

-- 

Will Bralick			          Speaking _only_ for myself.

Standard disclaimers apply.            Void where prohibitted by law.
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