http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pla...

Why is choice good in the concepts and policies that you support, but not acceptable if they run counter to your way of thinking? The children that will most likely succeed in school and after their school years are the ones that want to learn and apply themselves. Many children in the public system are forced to attend classes, but have no desire or motivation to learn so they become disruptive in the classroom. This takes away from the children that wish to make something out of their lives and makes learning more difficult for them. When a idea materializes that would allow the "want to learn children" the opportunity to attend a school that is mostly void of the troublemakers, you object on the grounds that we all need to financially support the public schools with our tax dollars, regardless of how well the school performs or the student environment. The teachers in public schools that are mediocre teachers should be replaced, but union rules prohibit letting a teacher with less years of teaching experience, although more talented, stay and let the older, less talented teacher go. This may not the case in private schools, they may be able to keep the teachers based on performance and the poor performers can be sent packing.
I know that many object to the religious schools, but I object to the liberal indoctrination that happens routinely in the public schools. It should be the parent's choice on where and what kind of school they wish their child to attend. They should not have to pay for both schools. I find it laughable that some suggest that I am free to send my children to private schools as long as I pay taxes for the public schools and I pay the entire cost of the private school. I don't feel that it is my obligation to support your children in an environment that I disagree with and want no part of. I want the ability to determine the school my children attend and to be reimbursed the money I pay in taxes to the public school system. I will gladly pay the balance toward the private school.

How about the Bill Ayers Science Explosive School?

"Bomb and Change"

Hey Patriots- I'm thinking of sponsoring a charter school. Taking suggestions for a good name, hmmm let us see...
*
Tea Party United Skool.
*
Koch Bros Skool for Patriotism
*
Wanker Charter Skool for Dropouts
*
Ronald Reagan School of WisKochsin
*
Wisconsin GrandChildren of Liberty Skool
Wee People of the Republicans Skool
(I think those may be taken already)
*
McWalmart Drone Charter Skool.
*
The Beautiful Skool

All my schools will give the kids a leg up at a trade and a fair shake at a job in Scott Walker's Wisconsin. Thus, the course "Hello, Welcome to Wal-Mart".

Oh yeah, of course we will have uniforms. Brown shirts.

Don't worry folks -your kids will be sure to be taught by people that make less than you do - otherwise how would I make money on that deal.

And Miss Scarlet-great idea - us rich folk love sweet taxpayer subsidized deals for real estate -tear those public schools down and put up a Sams to sell ye Patriots mass quantities of Quilted Northern (and Angel Soft) to wipe ye arses. Craig has good access to the interstate. Ha ha ha. Beautiful

DTB,

3 questions-

what is wrong with the current formula? (try to be specific)

How do you measure success?

What does failure look like?

Looking for solutions not platitudes.

kookbro,

Public education is not a wedge issue. Everyone agrees that a well educated republic is vital for the health of our society. I guess you prefer the status quo and that the tactic to improve schools requires only more money (clarify if you have the courage). Guess what in the real world is not so kind to mediocrity . Consumers have choices and vote with their pocket books. Which is why the least affluent among us would like the choice-just like Obama had/has for himself and his children-to send their children to a school with quality teachers who are demanding.

What is a wedge issue is the fairy tale that the left cares about children more than protecting a special interest union such as the NEA. Its interesting that the left demands diversity-yet political diversity at the university level is something that should not be desired.....

Commence with your strawman argument blaming the failure of the public education system on Reagan, Bush, G Bush or Scott Walker, Georgeo Soros or the Koch brothers or that there is not enough money-if 10,600 per pupil nationally is not enough-what is?

TCP - not in favor of the status quo - we need a better school funding formula that insures our public schools the funds they need to educate students for the 21st century that isn't subject to the whims of whoever the Governor may be.

wasp has this figured out.

And what about transportation costs with parents or buses hauling kids to schools all over the place? School Choice is a sham put forth by people that want a govt kickback for private schools. .

Truth1 - The 'elites' as you people always like to point out, understand that the experiment in Milwaukee has failed. The real elites, who the right can't worship enough, would love to see vouchers pass. They will be able to take their voucher money to the really ELITE schools, add some of their personal money and go to schools the average and poor will never see.

916WI - anyone could post many op-ed pieces with opposite conclusions to yours -but that would be lame.

Public education as a wedge issue. Did you Patriots get tired of abortion, gay marriage, etc etc etc.

DTP,

We get it- you prefer the status quo. Look how well US children do in Math and science compared the rest of the planet! School funding inequities plaque the state-but as long as your district gets enough-to hell with the others! This is typical of the left-as long as I get mine-its fine. Its this type of thinking that the left embraces to keep the poor - poor.

The idea has been around for a generation; it's still a bad idea.

DTB--Attached is one of many articles outlining the success of school choice. Embrace the idea because it is coming your way.:)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872...

Let parents make the decision on the choice of school their children attend and either give them the money they paid into the school tax plus the amount they whould recieve in state aid in the form of a voucher. If the parent decides a religious school is a better fit for their children, so be it. If they decide to stay in the public school system, the school gets to utilize the tax dollars paid in plus state aid. Remember folks...it's all about choice.

"voucher schools do not work better than public schools"
I'm sure that depends on which parents and students you talk to..Individual people aren't just part of one big "lump", the way the Elites like to think of them as.

The data from MPS shows voucher schools do NOT work better than public schools.

This scenario has been a common occurance since the voucher plan started in Milwaukee.

DTB,

Are you trying to scare people? The empirical data suggests that school vouchers work. Perhaps you dont want poor people to have the same opportunity as you or your children ? How the heck will you determine if the child learned anything-are you advocating for national testing standards?

Heck, even a couple of people running for the local school board do not want teachers to be held accountable to stagnant or declining test scores!

Yes - you can expect a lot of private schools to open up if the voucher plan goes through. Just as in Milwaukee, fly by night schools that care more about collecting tuition dollars than educating students. Then when the CEO drives off in his brand new taxpayer-paid-for-Cadillac he'll leave a school full of students who haven't learned a thing during the year or two the school was open and will get dumped back into the public schools where they can pull down the average test scores,making public schools look worse than they are and fueling more talk of vouchers.

The status quo lefties are out in force! Public schools work just fine-no need for reform (though the fearless barry Obama calls for reform himself-and he sends his school to a private school-a private school like he attended). School choice is great for lefty leaders-but not for the great unwashed of Rock County or anywhere else in flyover land!

Note the lefties will attach the posters-and offer nothing substantive to the debate! What is interesting about the voucher debate is that african americans overwhelmingly support the use of vouchers-and they block vote democrat-now the left would automatically make the link that if you are against vouchers-you must be a racist! Racists in Janesville? The KKK and Geraldo Rivera want to know! Happy Abe lincoln Birthday

Brotherscrotch -- Fear will not respond so maybe you will. By your comments I would assume then -- that in the interest of equality -- you would have the government confiscate all of the assets and assimilate ALL private education into the public system. This would be done so that all have a level playing field and that the tax dollars for those attending public school (through attendance) will support the purely public option. No private schools or universities would be allowed. No home school would be allowed. All would be forced to use the public system. This is the only alternative to a voucher system, which allows a greater number of people to choose their direction. Those in the middle class that currently are unable to afford a choice and can only consider a choice through the use of a voucher system.

What you really want then is the elimination of the private schools solution. Otherwise, you are only supporting private schooling for the 1%ers. Please tell me thats not true and hypocritical.

This will become the norm where people that are frustrated with "the way we have done it" mentality and search for alternate ways to achieve the same or higher results. Children that are disruptive and drag the entire class down, schools that think the solution is to throw more taxpayer money at the problem and forcing the taxpayer to continue funding such a failure is about to end. There needs to be some radical changes in the public school system if they want to survive in the future. Private schools will provide a choice to parents that do not want their children exposed to the routine behaviors that are displayed in the public schools. As more private schools come into operation, they will offer more choices to the parents on which would be the the best for the individual instead of the public school "one size fits all" and their "throw the good in with the bad" mentality. It is obvious that some of the commenters on here do not have children in the public schools by their lack of concern for the children that want to attend school and learn rather than be exposed to some of the behaviors displayed in the public schools.

Ah yes, retiredairforce - we meet again. Give me a chance to look through your 11000+ comments here, and I will get back to you. Ha ha.

While I look, please consider crafting a course -perhaps a course on Patriotic Web Commenting at one of my schools? Bring these kids up right! Teach them the art of 3AM commenting. Make them strive for such success in life!

Hey Patriots- I'm thinking of sponsoring a charter school. Taking suggestions for a good name, hmmm let us see...
*
Tea Party United Skool.
*
Koch Bros Skool for Patriotism
*
Wanker Charter Skool for Dropouts
*
Ronald Reagan School of WisKochsin
*
Wisconsin GrandChildren of Liberty Skool
Wee People of the Republicans Skool
(I think those may be taken already)
*
McWalmart Drone Charter Skool.
*
The Beautiful Skool

All my schools will give the kids a leg up at a trade and a fair shake at a job in Scott Walker's Wisconsin. Thus, the course "Hello, Welcome to Wal-Mart".

Oh yeah, of course we will have uniforms. Brown shirts.

Don't worry folks -your kids will be sure to be taught by people that make less than you do - otherwise how would I make money on that deal.

And Miss Scarlet-great idea - us rich folk love sweet taxpayer subsidized deals for real estate -tear those public schools down and put up a Sams to sell ye Patriots mass quantities of Quilted Northern (and Angel Soft) to wipe ye arses. Craig has good access to the interstate. Ha ha ha. Beautiful.

brothertroll where did I say anything about Janesville schools? Perhaps using your original account to toss stupid remarks is a problem for you...

With vouchers, more private schools will pop-up. Business opportunists will automatically take advantage of the money available. They may even purchase public schools as they close to use the buildings. Cross your fingers!

And golly gee whiz...one of bestest star spangled, waterboys for the rich and all that is good in this Nation, Paul Ryan!is a product of our very own Janesville public schools.

Imagine the patriotism and valor we'd see from Paul if he went to a private school in those high school years! The GOP would be unstoppable. He'd give it up for free (almost)! Just like Scotty.

RAF - exactly what "choices" in education does Janesville have? You are clueless about the dynamics and demographics of this community. Where are you from -Troll City CA?

Hopefully Scotty's pals -being the entrepenurial types (ahem, such as me) have interests in for-profit schools. Rocksolid, do you have yourself covered? Ha ha -beautiful.

As for me, it costs me a lot of money to send all my bratty offspring and mooching nieces and nephews to private school. Thank you Scotty for proposing having government cover a chunk of it.

Raf- Pretty slow with that answer!

billnewbie, what about vouchers for schools that don't include the mind-corrosive effects of religious teaching? Such as creationism/"intelligent" design.

Fears comments "All that being said I don't want tax dollars handed over to ANY private school, religious or otherwise for the simple reason that they can as Steve Miller always sang, " Go on take the money and run"

What I dont want to do is to pump my tax dollars into a public system that I am paying for and not getting the quality of education for the investment. Where I see teachers in big cities making rediculous salaries (see Chicago as an example), with plans to divert tax dollars from subburbs to inner cities and continue to feed a system that is over compensated, underachieving, under performaing. A system that treats ALL students the same, regardless of ability to meet some altruistic standard and then dumbing down those that have the ability to excel, while over challenging those that cannot keep up.

The problem in the public system is that it tries to be all things to all people and in the end creates a paper grad with nothing behind it. Our public schools have become puppy mill education.

Fear -- you want to change the discussion to religion. Its not a religous question, its a question about choice. Right now, there are many that have no choice. They cannot afford the expense of private schooling and are trapped in underperforming or poor performing schools. Allowing for choice makes good sense, unless you have some agenda or wish to trap some families into a particular system. The far left uses a bogus arguement that choice exists, yet when they must specifically respond to whether this is choice for the 1% they hate, or those in the middle class, they stumble and point to religion.

My position and many others is that vouchers allows for choice. It allows those that cannot afford the possibility to choose, the opportunity to consider a choice. Will all have the choice -- no. So if your criteria is that all have that choice, then all private schools and universities my be taken over by the government. This would then allow ALL a choice.

Please -- is this what the left wants? They want the government to confiscate private universitiews and schools? It sounds like that is what they would prefer. Otherwise they would at least support increased accessibility through vouchers.

Miss scarlet _ I think you just described a great many of the private Milwaukee schools.

mouse your poor grammar skills are showing again.

Raf - The perfect no brainer answer from someone who usually displays the same trait.

This is a good start to making a change that our country needs. Schools need to be privately owned and run in a stand-alone, fiscally responsible manner - like a business. The public school experiment failed - we ended up with overpaid teachers, overtaxed citizens, and a host of corrupt politicians and organized criminals living off of the public school system.

wasp your ignorance is often repeated. If you really don't know the answer to your rhetorical question you are indeed helpless...fits in perfect with your party.

"Why is it you right wingers want government to pay for everything?"
------
Huh?!? I can't speak for all "right wingers", but this one would love to pull our tax dollars out of universal health care, our unionized educational system, social security as well as a number of other entitlements that the government has no business funding. Do you share the same perspective, or do you want the government to pay for everything??

"If you want religious indoctrination in schooling, pay for it, but leave my tax dollars out of it."
--------
You demand that your tax dollars not be used for religious indoctrination in schools, yet you expect the "right wingers" to freely hand over their tax dollars to support ideas and policies that they don't agree with? What makes your concept of education and how to fund it the correct one and theirs the wrong one?

Raf- I am still waiting for an answer. Why can't we choose where all our tax dollars go? Or do you really know how silly your stance is?

The fringe left have neither consistency of position nor philosophy. Their (current) claim of choice is one they want you to have, as long as the money only goes where THEY chose, They ignore that education dollars are for the children; only. The faux presentation and fear tactics of defunding education are presented for the sole purpose of job preservation and defending the current failed establishment.

School choice is already available, that is the continuous straw man that is set up by the right wing union haters. Its a false "choice. Private schools can reject anyone they want to, have no accountability to any rules at all, no curriculum, no licensed teachers, etc, etc....
No one is afraid of school choice, most who are opposed to it see statistics. Most people who love and cherish their private schools are Democrats? Really? OR was it most of the teachers and folks that work in the schools are democrats? Maybe you should drop the partisan rhetoric for a minute and realize that only 16% of MPS students get to "choose" private schools, what about the other 84%?
If you want religious indoctrination in schooling, pay for it, but leave my tax dollars out of it.
Lets be real Bill this is nothing more than right wingers like yourself that want to defund schools because you are under the illusion that somehow someday you ont be paying an taxes. Keep dreaming.
Might be a good idea to focus on the schools that do better statistically with all the kids, not just the ones that were cherry picked.

So, our public schools are just fine, the finest in the world in fact, eh? If that's so, then why is there so much fear of school choice? If our public schools are really so good, then why is there so much resistance to giving parents the right to choose where to send their kids? Won't the parents choose the status quo???

Of course that's not what will happen. We know it, and so do the folks who make their living from public schools as do those that are allied with them, the Democrats. Their rhetoric cannot conceal their fear of school choice, no matter how shrill their rhetoric gets.

"No choice for education no choice for medical care....scarry left fringe plan to destroy our nation"

Irrational right wing nutjob wanting to scare the masses into their policies and beliefs. Destroy our nation? according to the tea partiers like RAF shouldn't we already be a Socialist nation? Whats taking so long? Its called hysterical people pumping fear into as many people as they can to get their way, its like talking to a three year old. I know trust me I have 2 of them.

RAF -you have plenty of choice. Go to any private school you want. See any high priced doctor you want. Just don't expect me to pay for it. If you can't afford it then settle for a lower cost alternative. Why is it you right wingers want government to pay for everything?

RAF- Once again your goofy comment makes no sense. No choice is destroying our country? What would your opinion be on everyone having a choice where their tax dollars went?

No choice for education no choice for medical care....scarry left fringe plan to destroy our nation.

Honorfirst, that is the "me-me-me" mentality that has taken our entire country down. What you don't realize and what the haters won't admit to is that it benefits society as a whole to have a strong public school system. Sure there are some schools that are better than others and you have the choice to send your kids wherever you want within that system of public schools. And it is a strong system in general. Some people have convinced themselves that this is a union issue but in reality it's people see the value of a strong system of public schools. There are many roads in this state I will never travel on but will need repair and maintenance so I pay for that because it is our best interest as a society to have good roads for personal safety and for transportation of goods. We don't get to say "I don't agree with his or that so I want my money back". Public tax money isn't yours to take where you want - it's there for our collective good.

Unless the governor is willing to come through with new extra money for vouchers, funds for public schools will be reduced and that strong system will be weakened. I don't expect I will change your thinking on this but you should know where the other side is coming from.

sick and tired of all these right wing union haters talking about our "failed or failing" education system, NOT true. This has been the talking point of the right wing for decades and its simply a bunch of BS. The United States still is the wealthiest nation with the most educated POPULATION on Earth. We offer education to all of our citizens. The public schools are charged with essentially acting as parents for millions of kids in poor families whose parents simply don't parent, and yet you mooks continue to whine about failure simply because you hate Union wages and benefits, not offering ANY SOLUTIONS.
Private schools are not held accountable AT ALL!! So tell me if you are so interested in accountability in educating kids why would you send them to a school that has NO standards? Hires teachers that have no licenses, that in some cases are not even educated to be teachers? If you want to send your kids to a private school , you HAVE the choice, what are you waiting for a handout from the government? If you want religion in your child's education, pay for it!
In all of the right wingers on all of these threads that whine and moan about the "failures" of our public education system that has been a model for the world for the better part of the last hundred years. I don't hear ANYTHING in the way of solutions, NOTHING. What do you hear repeated though? Union hate!! Because you want teachers to be paid a substandard wage and have zero benefits, all to win some moot political fight that has been being waged for decades, and because of Scott Walker and his gang of uneducated bullies you get your wish. I am all for real ideas from EDUCATORS and people that have ideas about how we educate kids without this constant blather over money, as if educating kids better wouldn't be or at very least shouldn't be PRICELESS to all, more priceless anyways than this bloated unnecessary military spread all over the world fighting unnecessary war and having unnecessary presence. This is the word view of the right wing paranoia that seems to rule this nation, even when they aren't in power.
So keep on hating, Ill keep on participating in schools, education and will ALWAYS advocate for ways to educate kids more efficiently, hold schools and teachers accountable for their performance, and pay these people what their worth without this bickering about unions. Unions wouldn't be necessary if it weren't for political lunatics. All that being said I don't want tax dollars handed over to ANY private school, religious or otherwise for the simple reason that they can as Steve Miller always sang, " Go on take the money and run"

dtb: I realize that I have the choice and I have made and paid for private schooling for my children in addition to paying taxes for public schools. What I object to is supporting the public school system with my tax dollars if I decide to not use the public schools. What we need to create is a user fee (tax) for the people that wish to support and attend public schools. That way it can be built around the people that support the public school concept and the ones that don't can take their money with them to their school of choice. Give me the money I pay in taxes to public education and let me apply it to my school of choice. I will gladly pay the remainder of the price of the private school.

Glad to see you agree with me.

Gandy,

My credibility or lack thereof is the same as yours. As for another bureaucracy determining what is best for me or my children-I'll pass. The results speak for themselves. If you prefer the status quo thats fine-I expect more.

As for your silly "wish" that the state (whether federal or local) " absolutely" separate church from the state-its a fools folly. You must really cringe when Obama says "and may God Bless America"....

Whether you like it or not-references to God is embedded in our laws, our morals, our teachings, and our schools (the Pledge).

As for school choice-my guess is that you really dont believe that competition works-despite the evidence. Again, the left claims its "for the children" but really their actions claim they are for themselves.

Dtb: you are absolutely right on the insurance thing. But if everyone is given money based on educating students but the job is no good why should you pay 100% out of pocket and be forced to still support a bad system therefore creating no accountability??

That's my biggest problem with unions in general no accountability for anything. Doesn't matter what you do, you show up you keep your job.

Honorfirst, you do have that choice. If you don't like the public schools, send your kid to a private school. But don't expect me to pay for it. If I want better health care than the government is willing/able to provide, I pay for it out of my own pocket with out kvetching about people that are on medicare. Why should education be any different?

gandy,

NO, I have never hear of the department of public instruction. Is this a federal department or a state department-if this truly exists-I am certain they have "children" in mind...or at least maintenance of the status quo....

But since you advocate for an "absolute" (your term) separation of church and state-US currency has "in God we Trust"...is the Treasury secretly establishing a religion? Maybe its all just an illuminati conspiracy or freemasons....

gadal,

The department of public instruction? Who are these esteemed bureaucrats?

Is this the same esteemed group that advocates for the removal of In God we Trust from US Currency?

I should have the right to send my child where I believe they will get the best education and in the safest environment. Along with this choice, I should receive a voucher to offset some of the cost of a private school, religious or not. Why should we be forced to pay for a school system we want nothing to do with? Let us take our portion (via a voucher) and take our children and business where we choose! There are so many liberal teachers and policies in the public schools that many parents do not support and given the ability to offset part of the cost of another school, would gladly pull their children from the public system. Think how many fewer public school building you would need.

And, yes, when they had a tight grip on your property taxes and sent it to one school and you had no say, that IS holding people hostage.

No reason to hold parents and students hostage to only one school like it was in the recent past.

Democrats in their blind support of unions do not want to see the truth. The truth is that portability of the taxes opens school choice to many more. Does that mean better education?? I believe yes, but I am certain there are bad private schools, just as their are bad public schools. But its really about choice and the abilityto allow a parent and a child an option.

Instead, some choose to blindly support a single solution and leave private schools and universities only for the eilte. They are basically supportinga decision for the 1%ers. They are only willing to see one solution as acceptable because it supports what teacher unions want instead of allowing children choice.

imbkay,

Obama closed funding to the program in 2009. The SOAR act reauthorized the program from 2012-2016. Speaker Boehner introduced the bill and as expected-only 1 democrat supported this. But thankfully for the students and recipients it passed 225-195 with 186 democrats voting against school choice in the worst district in the united states. I thought Dems cared about kids and education? Then again, children do not vote and children do not contribute money to democrat campaigns-so who could be against this? The NEA which contributes via union dues to democrats. He who pays the piper-calls the tune.

The program works and the return on investment is high-as a new independent analysis of the program finds (published in January 2013) link attached.

http://www.opencongress.org/vote/2011/h/...

http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/...

The DC Opportunity Scholarship program is still up and running, the deadline to apply is the 16th.
http://www.dcscholarships.org/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-w...
"It’s important to remember that the OSP was an additional expenditure, DCPS was held harmless. Put simply, the district still got the per pupil allotment for students even though the kids were in private schools."
90K with benefits for teachers
http://www.aei-ideas.org/2013/02/the-dc-...

imbkay- Yes, now you can do that but not years ago.

Wasp,

Im not sure what proof source you have-The DC Opportunity Scholarship program was federally funded, worked very well-and was killed by Obama as a gift to teachers unions.

DC schools spend more per pupil than almost any school district in the USA and they consistently have the worst outcomes-in the United states. Not all parents can afford Sidewell friends 30K per year tuition. Status quo hurts unions.

Yes you have, you apply, wait to see if your child is accepted, if they are, you pay for them to go there. Private schools can pick and choose who they will accept, you pay for that "privilege" on your own.

No you have not "always" had a choice...Until open enrollment, parents' taxes were automatically sent to the school in "their district" with NO CHOICE.

You have always had a choice where to send your children to school. My grandmother even had a choice almost 50 years ago, She sent my mother to a private school. No one has denied you a choice. I would think it would be in the best interest of our children to be able to hold these schools accountable the same as we do with public schools if we are going to be funding them. You know the saying... The grass is always greener on the other side. As far as where our taxes are spent, that's up to the lawmakers(with a "little" persuasion from corporations).
Do you actually believe the lawmakers are only thinking of the kids and parents??? Not when there are profits to be made, it's all about the bottom line.

TCB - I am not well versed on some of the places you named, but I do know that when D.C. was investigated, it was found to be a big scam. Doctored numbers, corrected tests etc. I think that vouchers are, in the end going to leave the poor in bad schools, with those that can afford to take their vouchers plus more of their own money go to exclusive schools.

hedge says "The taxes we pay should only be for public schools". Really??

The taxes we pay are for the education of our children. Not Pulblic , not private -- educations of our children and therefore the parent should have the ability to use those $$ at the schoold of their choice.

So you don't like school choice for your tax dollars and my tax dollars too, but I don't like abortion and feel women should not have a choice. Do you all that are against school choice think we should take away women's choice in terms of abortion too? Probably not.

Hypocritical. Why can't I choose where my tax dollars are spent? What is so inherently wrong with me wanting to support private schools and you wanting to support public education?? How will this cause problems??

It has been VERIFIED that humans have evolved from lower forms of life, by way of DNA. Though Darwin never nor any other anthropologist have said that we evolved from monkeys or apes.

But something definitely with tails. Check your tailbone.

It is also unfortunate that self-important people can pick and choose which students they are going to educate and kick a significant percentage of other students to the curb and still get paid great amounts of pay and benefits.

Americans 4 Prosperity & Scott Walker are sharing the same idealogical bed. They are a right wing group that is not to be trusted. Taxes should go for public schools - NOT - them!! The Beloit Supt. McNeal is 100% accurate & correct with his information. As I said - They are NOT to be trusted! Read more about this group...

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?tit...

Just a little more info...
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/05/08...

http://alecexposed.org/w/images/8/84/2D2...

It's unfortunate that corporations have such a large influence in creating legislation and deciding how our taxes are being used..
http://www.alecexposed.org/wiki/Privatiz...
How would you like to send your special needs child to a private school that is not held to the same standards as a public schools?
http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/03/1132...

Competition has no track record of improving performance-as long as there is no competition.

"I don't want my hard earned tax dollars funneled off to further the Church's agenda."
-------
Well, I don't want my hard earned tax dollars going to support a failing model of a public school system.

The taxes we pay should only be for public schools

I don't agree that tax money should go to any kind of religious schooling but it shouldn't be used to teach fairy tales about humans "evolving" from monkeys or apes either..Teach SCIENCE that can be studied and VERIFIED and leave ALL stories to storytellers.
That said, school CHOICE is essential."Locking" students into one school with no choice has done astronomical harm to students over the last 40 years, harm that many will never fully recover from.

True, prounion, the Jesuits say "Give me the boy and I will give you the man."

Creationism is not only a mentality for the indolent, but it fosters indolence too. It's just easier for god to have done it than to actually study life and the universe with all the complexities.

Eye - nice post. It is indeed just another ploy to get god back into the schools and propogate the delusion to the next generation.

I know I don't want my tax dollars spent on stunting the intellectual growth of our society's children through the teaching of the nonsense of creationism/intelligent design.

Seems like another ploy in reponse to the ever increasing numbers of people that identify as non-religious or atheist. The only way to stop that trend is to get them when they are young, adults tend not to buy into fairy tales unless they were indocternated as children.

wasp,

Why do you look only to Milwaukee as the reason why vouchers should not be considered? They work miracles in California, New York, Washington DC Indiana, et al. Look to DC alone where graduation rates in public schools are 50% and those same students when given the opportunity to use a voucher graduate at a 91% rate. After all, obama said this is about the children-and not the union...

Those who oppose a voucher system do so for democrat political reasons the evidence demonstrates a tangible advantage for those disadvantaged kids-even in Milwaukee the competitive pressure from vouchers has forced the public schools to change- and 94% of the kids who benefited from vouchers stayed in school and graduated versus 75% of those in Milwaukee public schools. The NEA counts more than kids who cannot vote or make political contributions.

I don't understand why we continue to look at vouchers as a panacea for the education system when in Milwaukee it hasn't worked any better than the public schools. It has also been fraught with fraud. With private schools going bankrupt, and the former owners of the schools driving off in Mercedes. We must also remember these schools do not take learning disabled students and also have parents that are the most committed to education. Not a good place for our tax money as I see it.

Mr. Lewis does seem most interested in maintaining the financial health of public school systems rather than increasing educational opportunities for our students. Diverting resources for the benefit of students is an acceptable use of those resources, even if unionized public school systems find themselves with fewer students and therefore a need to reduce their unionized payroll. Remember, our educational systems are meant to benefit students first and foremost, not the employees of those systems. That's a fact that Mr. Lewis and his union brethren tend to forget in their haste to put their own interests first and foremost.

I like how they soften it by calling it an expanded school choice when in reality Walker is creating a voucher entitlement with our tax payer money that will go directly to a religious school. According to their website, there are 1900 students in the 15 religious schools in Rock County. These voucher entitlements currently are a little less than $6500. That is $12 million of our tax payer dollars in the area that would leave our public schools and right into the Churche's coffers. I don't want my hard earned tax dollars funneled off to further the Church's agenda. http://www.privateschoolreview.com/count...

Remember Ted Lewis is a the head of a group heavily influenced by union membership. So it stands to reason he and his group will come out against having a choice in schools. His job is to make the job of those who teach better, not who they teach, or who pays for it.