My break with the Democrats on school vouchers
Who am I, I thought, to deny this mom and her child an opportunity for a better school, even if that meant help with a seventy-five-hundred-dollar voucher? If they got a voucher, and her child could attend a really good Catholic school, perhaps, why would I stand in the way—especially since I don’t have a high-quality DCPS alternative?
I just couldn’t look mother after mother in the eye and deny their children the opportunity I wanted for my own children. It would have required me to say, “Gee, I’m sorry, you’re just going to have to suck it up. I know your elementary school is a failing school, and your child will probably not learn how to read, but I really need five more years to fix the system. And while I’m fixing the system, I need you and your neighbors to be really patient. Hang in there with me. Things will get better. I promise.”
If someone said that to me, I’d have said, “You may need more time to fix the system but my kid doesn’t have time. She has only one chance to attend first grade, and if she can’t learn to read by the end of first grade, her chances for success in life will be compromised. So with all due respect—heck no!”
After my listening tour of families, and hearing so many parents plead for an immediate solution to their desire for a quality education, I came out in favor of the voucher program. People went nuts. Democrats chastised me for going against the party, but the most vocal detractors were my biggest supporters.
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Fix the system? ….. really, Michelle?...really?
ted c on February 5, 2013 at 11:13 PM
She was hated down there. You know you’re making a difference that way.
blatantblue on February 5, 2013 at 11:29 PM
And ….Michelle is married to ?
Sorry , lost her credibility .
Lucano on February 5, 2013 at 11:30 PM
I’m rooting for Michelle. At least on this issue.
22044 on February 5, 2013 at 11:31 PM
Give her credit, she is anti-union.
thebrokenrattle on February 5, 2013 at 11:34 PM
Since when have Democrats been for good schools…?
It’s all about their pay and the unions.
Every horrible school she described is a public and union run school.
They were never on her side.
NeoKong on February 5, 2013 at 11:39 PM
It’s great that she’s had an epiphany for the obvious, but this is what she said after YEARS in education and being in control of much of various curricula. YEARS in the business, already, and she finally came to the notion that she should speak to some parents about what THEIR kids were doing and what THEY wanted for THEIR kids. And all this was well after she had already made up her mind about vouchers. It was only by chance that she came to this point and could have, just as likely, not spoken to anyone or run into one or two parents she didn’t like and she would still pushing the democrat line for having all kids shaped and molded to the specific, damaged, sub-par leftist plan through nothing but public school.
Color me “meh” on her revelation.
ThePrimordialOrderedPair on February 5, 2013 at 11:39 PM
it doesnt negate her work in DC, sorry.
blatantblue on February 5, 2013 at 11:39 PM
And ….Michelle is married to ?
Sorry , lost her credibility .
Lucano on February 5, 2013 at 11:30 PM
it doesnt negate her work in DC, sorry.
blatantblue on February 5, 2013 at 11:39 PM
Didn’t say it did ( though my DC relatives question lasting impact ) .
It’s kinda a ” who your friends are ” thing .
Sorry , I’m cynical these days .
Lucano on February 5, 2013 at 11:50 PM
She disagrees on a lot more than vouchers and can’t even admit it. Admitting that there are too many bad teachers and that they have to go would kick her out of the “club”. I think the club is more important.
Cindy Munford on February 5, 2013 at 11:55 PM
+ One trillion, I hear ya!
Cindy Munford on February 5, 2013 at 11:56 PM
Amen. Not really in the mood to give people credit for applying common sense and doing the right thing. That’s supposed to be our default setting, not cause for celebration.
CycloneCDB on February 6, 2013 at 12:19 AM
Choice is an interesting word.
CW on February 6, 2013 at 12:40 AM
Liberals on abortion: Choice, Goddammit!
Liberals on school vouchers: No choice, Goddammit!
Why are liberals so anti-child?
Phucking GOP needs to turn the tables and start screaming about the War on Kids. Adults can take care of themselves. But liberals are snuffing out kids before they’re born or, if they survive birth, liberals do their best to cripple them in their youth.
BuckeyeSam on February 6, 2013 at 1:15 AM
When Vouchers lost in California I remember a friend of mine who lived there explaining to me why she voted against school vouchers.
“I don’t want my child to attend a Witches Coven school. And with Vouchers they could do that, put up a school run by a Witches Coven.”
“So?” I said, “If you don’t want your child attending such a school, don’t send him there, send him somewhere else.”
“But, I’d have to,” she said, “since there is a group like that right here in town they’d put up a school and my son is local, so there you have it.”
It was dawning on me what the opponents had done, they had my friend convinced that vouchers would work just like public schools for attendance and be forcing parents to support it.
“[Name], That’s not how Vouchers work. YOU pick the school you want, be it secular, Catholic, Protestent, or traditional public, but only after YOU CHOOSE the school do you assign the voucher to the school – Just like how the G.I. Bill sent [husband's name] to college!”
It took some further arguing with her [almost 2 hours] to convince her she had actually voted NO on something she desperatly wanted.
jaydee_007 on February 6, 2013 at 2:03 AM
This article is awesome for one simple reason:
It uses the language of the left (appeals to emotion) to argue for vouchers. If you want to communicate an idea to a leftist, find another compliant leftist to paraphrase it to them on your behalf. It’s the only way they’ll get it.
mintycrys on February 6, 2013 at 2:25 AM
Well that money used for school vouchers would be better spent tossing it into the pot for public schools instead. Its much better to learn about feelings, free contraception, abortions, and how to be gay. Lets not forget that everyone is a winner also!
watertown on February 6, 2013 at 5:59 AM
welcome to the real world
cmsinaz on February 6, 2013 at 6:18 AM
The well educated make bad slaves so of course the dems are against good public schools. How ever breaking with the dems on one subject is not enough.
Slowburn on February 6, 2013 at 6:37 AM
The “Father” of American public education (John Dewey) agrees with you:
“You can’t make Socialists out of individualists — children who know how to think for themselves spoil the harmony of the collective society which is coming, where everyone is interdependent.”
CJ on February 6, 2013 at 6:45 AM
Why do Charter schools fail to produce results? https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=546090658749116&set=a.283050881719763.74352.168421996515986&type=1&theater
libfreeordie on February 6, 2013 at 6:58 AM
Why do trolls fail to produce reality?
Oh, that’s right. They’re liberal.
CurtZHP on February 6, 2013 at 8:05 AM
In the end, it’s not the school that produces the results. Even in a bad school a kid can learn if they’re motivated.
I’ve met college students from INdia who have described their public education experiences.
Abysmal. But yet, they were extremely intelligent & well learned.
Gee, why is that? Could it be personal motivation & discipline?
Schools should be places where parents want their kids to go.
So they need to be competitive. And vouchers can do that. In reality, the Fed should not be involved.
Only states should be involved if that is the people’s wish of that state.
What we have is a nation that is forcing horses to drink when they refuse to.
Parents are less & less involved in their kids’ learning. They think we as teachers can somehow just open their little heads & pour knowledge in.
That somehow I can force a kid to do their HW & not just DO it, but actually get something out of it.
You see, I cannot do that. I have noticed HW is often a wasted exercise. Bcs kids go out & Google the answers etc. or copy from their friends & they never actually learn the material.
So I get parents who tell me things like “Well Little Johnny must have test anxiety bcs he does so well on his daily work!”
So you comply by sticking the kid in a rubber sound proof room to take the test & he still fails.
I have to gently tell the parent it isn’t test anxiety, it’s Lazy A$$ syndrome.
And you’re the one who’s partly responsible.
Needless to say, I am not popular with some parents.
I even had a parent, member of the screwl board, try & beg me to make my tests easier so his kid could keep up his GPA.
I said NO. If he wants an A, he can go get it.
If he’s satisfied with his Cs & Bs, that his decision.
So livelikeaslaveanddie, the real issue here, & this is coming from a HS science teacher who’s in the thick of things, the problem is SOCIETY.
Or more specifically, LIBERAL SOCIETY that has made people into dependent little slaves.
Badger40 on February 6, 2013 at 8:21 AM
Ha ha ha.
That’s right folks, normal public education is doing just fine. Particularly in urban areas and among blacks and hispanics. Just remember that next time we tell you we need more funding for the kids.
gwelf on February 6, 2013 at 8:37 AM
School choice is -the- “civil rights” issue of our time.
Democrats are on the wrong side. Again.
visions on February 6, 2013 at 8:41 AM
Charter schools usually perform at least as good as other public schools and often better. It depends on the state and area.
http://credo.stanford.edu/
gwelf on February 6, 2013 at 8:45 AM
I thought this was a voucher thread.
Vouchers can be used at one of the many parochial schools that have that wonderful aspect of discipline.
My siblings and I went to a Lutheran K-8 in a Chicago suburb. My sister sent her kids to Lutheran schools when she could. My brother and his wife are sending five through Catholic schools in the Cincinnati suburbs. The one thing that strikes me about all of these parochial schools is that you have a community of parents who care not only about their own children but about their classmates. It makes a huge difference. If a family needs a voucher to get their kids in that kind of environment, let them have it.
BuckeyeSam on February 6, 2013 at 8:46 AM
Abortion and school choice are part of the liberal War on Kids.
BuckeyeSam on February 6, 2013 at 8:47 AM
There is no issue like school choice that better highlights the lefts hatred of choice and liberty. The central planner technocrat within them can’t stand it.
gwelf on February 6, 2013 at 8:49 AM
It’s so good to see that you’re concerned with what works and what doesn’t. Can we end the War on Poverty and the Great Society now we know it creates the conditions it supposedly alleviates?
gwelf on February 6, 2013 at 8:51 AM
DCPS was lucky to have her, but too stupid to keep her.
Rhee made the mistake of thinking that DCPS’s mission was effective education. But mainly it’s a life-support system for the teachers’ union, where children’s interests are dramatically subordinate.
petefrt on February 6, 2013 at 9:53 AM
Lib pols send their own kids to private schools, but block school choice for the rest of us.
Same with guns. They have armed body guards for themselves and armed guards for their children in private schools, but want to outlaw armed protection for the rest of us.
petefrt on February 6, 2013 at 10:01 AM
Exactly.
Well, duh! That’s because they are your betters, don’t you know! You’re not smart enough to use a voucher wisely. So, into the public scruel system your kids go!
GWB on February 6, 2013 at 10:05 AM
I don’t understand why Republicans don’t make a “war on children” campaign against the Dems…not unlike their stupid “war on women”? It’s no secret that government schools are an abject failure and Dems are happy to force kids to attend them. Way too many kids are consigned to a dim future because of lousy schools. They can’t succeed if they can’t flippin’ read.
Vouchers are a veritable lifeline for many underserved kids…it’s a wonderful idea. Teachers unions already contribute only to Dems, so where’s the downside to making vouchers, and really putting kids first, a very big deal? Competition for school vouchers will only improve things.
Kids, and their parents, deserve a CHOICE.
marybel on February 6, 2013 at 10:06 AM