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I do not agree with voucher systems as I've seen them proposed here in Michigan. It didn't pass, but it wasn't going to be only available to the lower income families, they were going to be available to anybody. If they were equal in value to what the school district gets per student, then a family would still have to kick in $5000-$10,000 per year for private school tuition. They would also have to have the means to transport the child to the other school. All it would really do, the way it was proposed in Michigan, is take money away from the public schools and allow the upper level income families to get a big break on their private school tuition.
I also disapprove of being able to use tax dollars to support religious schools.
Our focus needs to be on improving the public schools so that all children truly get an equal shot at a good education AND on improving their neighborhoods (fighting crime, poverty, etc) so that other social issues that impair their ability to learn are eliminated or significantly reduced.
I do think that parental involvement and the parents values relating to education play a huge part in a child's success in school no matter what school district they are in and I don't know how you change that. Detroit Public Schools have a whole lot of problems but they also have some spectacular schools for the academically and artistically gifted. It would be a shame for those programs to deteriorate because the district gets less funding. Although there have been a lot of corrupt administrators who have misspent funds, that needs to be addressed and changed, not ignored with a plan to just get kids out of the district.
Dee
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