As parents and grandparents, friends and neighbors, we all want what is best for our children. And that includes the opportunity to go to a safe school that provides them a good environment to learn, with skilled and caring teachers. That should be our goal not only for our own children but for all the children of Jacksonville, for all the children of Florida, for all the children everywhere. Their challenge is to find the courage and the will to do what is necessary to give every child a quality education. We sure aren t going to do it with vouchers.
Vouchers are the opposite of doing what it takes to fix public schools that are in trouble.
They focus on getting a few kids out of those schools, leaving the rest of them with even fewer resources than before. The people who are pushing vouchers say there s no choice. Their whole argument is based on the idea that public schools are so bad, so beyond repair, that nothing can be done to fix them. That s a copout. And it s simply not true.