Reply #219: Okay, I'm going to come right out and say what I really feel! [View All]

[Lydia Leftcoast]

Voucher advocates have that peculiar kind of pigheaded, shortsighted selfishness that sometimes afflicts people when they become parents.

It's the same kind of brain cell loss that makes them get angry when someone correctly points out that their offspring are wreaking havoc, so they accuse the critic of "hating children."

It's all my child my precious little perfect angel who's too good to go to that public school, so the hell with rest of the children. I've got mine, and my kids deserve it just because my family is so wonderful, and all those other kids aren't worth shit.

That's what really lies behind all the crocodile tears for those "poor underprivileged children."

I don't have kids, but I swear, if I ever had, it would NOT have made me into such a smug, selfish grown-up brat.

Look here, all you high and mighty yuppies and would-be yuppies who think that your children are too good for the public schools: You can shelter the little darlings from bad schools all you want, but in the end, it won't make a bit of difference to their future quality of life, because the children left behind are going to grow up and share the adult world with your crown princes and crown princesses.

Yes, it's up to you whether the people who will be sharing the world with your offspring as adults are well-educated or ignorant.

You voucher advocates act as if public schools were just imposed on you by aliens from outer space. WRONG!!!! No country in the world has more local control over its public schools than the U.S. It's a cherished ideal, this local control, and if you're against it, you're labeled as some kind of monster, but in actual practice, what it means is that the quality of local public schools depends entirely on how much local residents care.

If the public schools are bad in your community, it's because apathetic or overstressed parents have allowed bozos to take over the school board. Period.

It's not easy to take back the schools and make them spend their money wisely and institute constructive policies. It's so much easier to bitch and moan about how your child needs to get out of there.

Tell me, o voucher advocates, how is taking money away from the schools supposed to help them?

Picture a scenario at your job where the boss comes in and says, "You haven't met your goals for this quarter, so we're taking away one of your staff members, reducing your supply budget, and giving you extra tasks."

That's what you are doing to the public schools when you advocate vouchers. Hell, with Repiggies in charge of the Minnesota state legislature, that's what's happening to the Minneapolis public schools without vouchers.

See, that's the Republicanite plan for all government programs: Make them work so badly due to underfunding that people beg to have them privatized.

You know what else, all you "private schools are superior" types? You know how the U.S. comes out low-ranked in international surveys of student achievement? Well, you know those European and Japanese and Korean schools that perform so well? Public schools, every one of them.

So for those of you who are whining about what your poor child should do in public school in the meantime, take a clue from my parents. Our local school district was no great shakes, but my parents bought us books and took us to cultural events and on trips. You can do that, too.

And if you really care about children and aren't just a typical yuppie greedhead, start lobbying your schoolboard for improvements and maybe even run for schoolboard yourself.