But even in cities such as Jacksonville, where an intensive effort is under way to improve educational achievement for all children, the process will not be completed in a year or two, even at best. By the time it does occur, the students failing now will have no chance. They will have graduated or dropped out, or simply not have time to recover unless they are held back for a year or more. Voucher opponents are asking poor kids to give up their hopes for a better life than their parents, for the more important cause of preserving a labor union hegemony. Vouchers are an instant fix for individuals.
Students can be in a better school the next day, catching up on their education.
All of the fluffy flights of fancy about why vouchers won't work fall apart on the issue of accountability. Any parent who is interested enough in getting his child a good education to make use of a voucher is not going to allow him to fail somewhere else. He will choose a school that provides the education he wants his child to have. He does not need to be concerned about what the education establishment thinks of his choice. But when they have choice, consumers can leave it.