roguecavaliers

Voted, Did you?

There aren't really any polling stations in Essex, and I forgot about it till it was too late to do the absentee thing. Oh well, I got the last one and I'll get the next one.

I did. I hope that pleases you.

yup

I voted yet again against the neoconservative conspiracy. That translates to a no on school vouchers.

Sure did

Malcontent_Donk wrote:I voted yet again against the neoconservative conspiracy. That translates to a no on school vouchers.

what, so offering people their tax money back in a voucher if they take their kid out of public schools (which the tax money is collected for) is a neocon policy? Much more libertarian than neocon, in my humble opinion.

Depends why you back it. Neocons like vouchers because it's like getting money back to send their kid to a religious school, libertarians like it because it's less of their money going to the government.

LurpyThePirate wrote:Depends why you back it. Neocons like vouchers because it's like getting money back to send their kid to a religious school, libertarians like it because it's less of their money going to the government.

Seems to me everyone should like a chance to get a portion of their own money back, even if it can only be spend to send your kid to a private school. If I were paying property taxes, I would be happy for the choice. Thank god I have no little bastards to worry about having to send to private school, but seeing the education of some of the people I work with who went to public schools in utah, I sure would try anything to keep my kids out of public schools


Oh well, not like they are going to write me a check for the money of mine that they misspend and mismanage.

It's a neocon policy because look who supports it. I agree with your point here, except to say that not all private schools are created equal. If there were assurances that the kids would in fact learn a core of required subjects and the kids would be tested at the end of the year to ensure that they have been instructed in them, there would not be a problem. The problem with this bill was not the idea of vouchers it was the fact that there is no responsibility on the part of the private schools to actually offer an education. If the Charter school bill in Utah were fixed, I would support school vouchers, but as of now, there is no accountability for those schools and while the public schools waste tons of money, they still have to meet minimum standards. There is not a requirement that the private schools have to do this. Most are admirable, but there are enough that are set up as tax shelters and cash generators that don't give a damn about education that it's not a good idea to give them a quick access to money.

And yes the religious schools are a big part of the problem. The definition of freedom is the distance church and state are separate.

I was against the vouchers because it would only really help the rich ppl. The vouchers would have only been for 2-3000 bucks and the tuition at most private schools is like 5000 more than that. What person making the kind of money I do could afford that anyways? Especially if they had more than one kid? Also what about all the counties that dont even have private schools? And for the argument that it would lower the student-teacher ratio, I dont think that is true either as the number of teachers each school has is dependent on the number of kids the school has...thus: less kids, less teachers, the class size stays about the same anyways. Add all that to the fact that my friends that are teachers are against it and there you go. Both my kids have been in public schools all their lives and I have been quite happy with them regardless of the reputation Utah has. And I grew up in one of the best school districts in the country. Now, I agree, if I lived out in that foreign country to the west of me (west valley, Kearns), I might not have the same opinion. But that is a whole other problem.

I voted. However, let it be known that I only participated so I would have the right complain about the douchebags that take office.

So I really don't have a real strong opinion on school vouchers, but it would seem that if I had kids, I sure would not want them going to public school, no matter what the costs. After hearing horror stories from my friends at work who have middle and high school aged kids, I would much rather they go to a private school of my chosing than even the best of the public schools in SLC.

Having said that, parents who pay taxes (federal, state, and local) that are used for public education, should have a right to get their tax money back to spend on the education of their kids if they are not attending public school. It only seems fair, having a fair number of friends who are teachers (none in Utah), most of them personally support choice in schools, but each of them have been told by their unions that they must if asked be against vouchers or any ballot measure that challange the public schools system. In once case, in Ohio, a friend was told by the union offical in her school district that she had to either volunteer to picket (hold a sign) at a union sponsored event, or do voter calling on behalf of a "non profit" group run by the union.

In the local election, that fact that the unions poured so much money, millions more than the pro voucher groups, is enough to sway my vote. But hey, most people think I am a neocon anyhow.

Denz, step up and own it. Come on, say it, "I am a neocon." See it wasn't that hard.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a private school called a private school because it isn't connected to the government in any way? If you want to send your kids to private school that's your call and it should also come out of your wallet.