I am reminded of the story of Esau in Genesis. You know the story well. Esau returns from the hunt, tired and hungry, and he sells his birthright to Jacob for a mess of pottage. And a growing number are willing to sell their birthright, public schools, for a fistful of vouchers being offered by right-wing politicians. I understand the frustration.
Vouchers are a fundamentally dishonest scheme.
But parents have no choice when a voucher is worth several thousand dollars, and private school tuition is five to fifteen thousand dollars. Parents have no choice when private and parochial schools already have long waiting lists, or when there is no transportation to voucher schools across town or in the suburbs. So I urge all of us in this room to beware of those increasingly powerful voices attacking public education today. They want to voucherize us, privatize us, and commercialize us. Right now, a new plan called Exodus 2000 is being promoted by the religious right.