Molly Ball’s Las Vegas Review-Journal story this morning is accurate. There IS a good chance Nevada will be the next major battleground state in the school choice movement. And as you see already in Sen. Titus’ comments, the hypocrisy and disinformation coming from opponents will be enough to choke a horse.
Here’s where we are. Some top legal minds are tweaking the ballot initiative language, knowing full well that the first thing the teachers union will do - other than announce their full-blown opposition to parents and grandparents actually getting to choose which school is best for their kids and grandkids - is file a lawsuit to prevent parents and grandparents from getting an opportunity to even VOTE on parents getting an opportunity to choose which school their kids attend. Those lawyers are part of my “shadowy group of right-wingers.”
Next, there are campaign finance, filing and reporting requirements for any ballot initiative. That is decidedly not my field of expertise. So some folks who ARE experts in that area are advising me on that aspect.
In addition, as you can well imagine, I’m fortunate to have worked with some of the top political consultants on various campaigns over the years. I have absolutely consulted with a number of them about this initiative - especially in the area of message development and delivery, because the union is going to throw everything, including the kitchen sink, at us in an effort to kill school choice for parents and grandparents. So I want to be as ready as possible for every political dirty trick coming our way.
And one of those dirty tricks will be to attack the supporters of this initiative, as well as attack the principle of school choice for parents and grandparents itself.
So while Molly is correct in reporting that I didn’t identify specifically who has been helping me craft this initiative, it’s not some secretive skull-and-bones cabal of child-hating ogres. In fact, every person involved in the planning stages right now has school-aged kids, many of whom are presently attending Nevada public schools. Why should they be publicly identified just so the teachers union can attack and ridicule them unmercifully? These parents don’t deserve that kind of treatment.
That said, let’s now address Sen. Titus’ brief remarks - because they are a harbinger of things to come.
As you go forward trying to help us pass this initiative in November, you’ll hear over and over again the argument that school vouchers - or scholarships - undermine public education. You can NOT let that argument stand.
Public EDUCATION and public SCHOOLS are not the same thing. The objective is to attain an educated populace. That does NOT mean the means of providing that education has to be provided by government-run schools and only by government-run schools.
Repeat after me: Public education and public schools are NOT the same thing. Public education and public schools are NOT the same things. Public education…
OK, let’s close today by pointing out some major league hypocrisy by Sen. Titus - sure to be replicated by others who don’t think parents and grandparents should be allowed to choose which schools their kids and grandkids attend. As Molly Ball wrote, Sen. Titus said she opposes vouchers/scholarships as a matter of principle.
Au contraire (I think that’s French).
In 1999, the Legislature approved the Guinn Millennium Scholarships - a voucher program using public funds which allows students, parents and grandparents to choose any approved school of higher education, public OR private. Sen. Titus voted for this voucher/scholarship program. So much for opposing school choice as a matter of “principle.”
By the way, does Sen. Titus oppose the G.I. Bill…a highly successful program of providing vouchers to military veterans to attend the private or public school of their choice? Somehow I doubt it. Or at least she’ll never admit it publicly.
When confronted with these contradictions to her self-described “principled” opposition to vouchers, expect Sen. Titus to start squirming and spinning like a Tasmanian devil with ADD.
She’ll say this is for college-aged students, not elementary and secondary school kids - as though that makes a difference on a matter or principle. Whatever.
And she’ll also try to argue that there’s a difference between using public funds which came from the tobacco settlement for the Guinn Millennium Scholarships and public funds which come from tobacco and other taxes.
I just hope she has health insurance to cover the chiropractor’s bill to fix the pretzel she’s tying herself into on this one. (What am I saying? She’s a government employee. Of COURSE she has great health insurance. And we’re paying for it!)
But for argument’s sake, let’s give this one to Sen. Titus. Let’s say there really is a difference here - even though there really isn’t. Fine. But how, then, does she explain her vote on Senate Bill 158 last year?
SB 158 was sponsored by Sen. Barbara Cegavske and would have established scholarships/vouchers for the parents and grandparents of children with autism and other special needs and disabilities. In other words, using public funds which did not come from the tobacco settlement to give parents or grandparents a choice in sending their elementary– and high school-aged kids to the public OR private school of their choice.
The bill passed in the state Senate 21-0. Sen. Titus voted for this school voucher/scholarship bill, as did every one of her Democrat colleagues before it was killed by the teachers union-controlled Democrats in the state Assembly.
Is Sen. Titus - with almost two decades of legislative experience under her belt - now going to claim she didn’t know what she was voting for when she voted for this school choice bill to give parents and grandparents vouchers/scholarships to attend the public OR private school of their choice? Please.
So just how will Sen. Titus explain that she’s in favor of providing publicly-funded school vouchers/scholarships to parents unfortunate enough to have children and grandchildren with learning disabilities, but not to lower– and middle-income parents who are unable to afford the private school tuition for a school where they believe their child might get a better education. Please explain THAT principle, Sen. Titus. This outta be good.
Coming Up Next: The teachers union and school choice opponents will demand to know who is funding our initiative - again in an effort to divert attention from the issue itself. Wait’ll you see how we handle THAT one.
Buckle up, boys and girls. We’re about to hit some major league turbulence.
By the way, school choice isn’t supported just by “right-wingers.” Check out some of the hard-core, left-wing liberal Democrats who support school choice, as listed in today’s “Famous Last Words” (below).
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
“If I was the parent of a child who went to an inner city school that was failing…I might be for vouchers, too.”
- Vice President Al Gore, New York Post, August 10, 2000
“America already has created the greatest voucher program in history. It was stupendously successful. No one minds its support for private and religious schools. It is called the GI Bill … Choice is all around us — even in federal aid for college students — and it’s time to bring it to the children.”
- U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige in a February 28, 2002 speech to the Black Alliance for Educational Options in Philadelphia
“Shame on us for not realizing that there are parents in this country who…today support vouchers not because they are enamored with private schools but because they want a choice for their children. They want alternatives, and seeing none in our rigid system, they are willing and some even desperate to look elsewhere.”
- Senator John Kerry, (D-Mass.) Speech, Northeastern Univ., June 16, 1998
“It’s possible that there are some public schools nobody would choose. They are so bad that they might suddenly find themselves without any students. But I have no idea why we should be interested in protecting schools like that from competition–or any schools from competition.”
- William Bennett, former Secretary of Education, from the book: The De-Valuing of America
“Our children deserve the best education we can provide to them, whether that learning takes place in a public, private or parochial school. It’s time to give middle and lower income parents the same right wealthier families have — to send their child to the school that best meets their needs. It’s time to conduct a nationwide test of school vouchers. It’s time to democratize education.”
- Sen. John McCain, Sep 27, 1999
“When you have…inner cities - where the public schools are abysmal or dysfunctional or not working and where most of the children have no way out - it is legitimate to ask what would happen to the public schools with increased competition from private schools and what would happen to the quality of education for the children who live there.”
- Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE), “District of Columbia Student Opportunity Scholarship Act of 1997,” Congressional Record, October 9, 1997
“They [low-income parents] need something wealthier Americans have always had: the power to choose their children’s school … The reason school choice succeeds is no mystery: it gives power to the people who have the most at stake — parents.”
- John O. Norquist, Democratic Mayor of Milwaukee, Readers Digest, May, 1996
“I believe that school choice is the most pressing civil rights issue of the nineties!”
- Alveda King Tookes, niece of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and founder of King for America, a civil rights group whose primary issue is promoting school choice
“Let parents, especially among the poor, seek a decent education wherever it may be found. Others will wave their worn-out ideologies to defend a system of educational apartheid while demonizing anyone who promotes a parent’s right to choose.”
- Honorable Andrew Young, former United States Ambassador to the UN, “Educational emancipation,” Detroit News, May 5, 1999
“It’s (school choice) an idea whose time has come … You can give the scholarship to that parent, just like you did the veteran under the G.I. Bill.”
- U.S. Rep. J. C. Watts Jr., R-OK, “Watts advocates vouchers for private schooling,” Birmingham News, January 27, 1999
“Let’s experiment prudently with school voucher programs to see if they help. Let’s use innovation and competition to help give our children the best education possible.”
- General Colin Powell, Chairman, America’s Promise, GOP Convention speech, August 1, 2000, Philadelphia
“Why not simply ‘voucherize’ all education funding and let students and their parents select where they can get the best education?”
- Robert B. Reich, former Secretary of Labor, Clinton Administration, Wall St. Journal, editorial, September 6, 2000
“Choice is the best thing that has come around for my people since I’ve been born. It allows poor people to have those choices that all those other people who are fearing it already have.”
- Polly Williams, Democratic State Representative, Wisconsin, Washington Times, April 2, 1990
“In the 60s we didn’t want to go from segregation to integration because of fears that were never realized. It’s the same today, going from no choice to school choice. The only fear we should really have is that we could deprive our children of a quality education because we failed to act.”
- Florida State Rep. Beryl Roberts (D-Miami), Speech delivered at Children First: CEO America’s 5th Annual Founders Meeting, October 1999
“If I find myself slowly morphing into a supporter of charter schools and vouchers, it isn’t because I harbor any illusions that there’s something magical about these alternatives. It is because I am increasingly doubtful that the public schools can do what is necessary to educate poor minority children.”
- William Raspberry, nationally syndicated columnist, Washington Post, June 26, 1998
“What’s wrong with education cannot be fixed with technology. No amount of technology will make a dent. It’s a political problem … I’m one of those people who believe the best thing we could ever do is go to the full voucher system.”
- Steve Jobs, Co-founder, Apple Computer, ‘Wired,’ February, 1996
“Education reform is thus a question of liberty and self-government. I strongly favor school choice approaches that empower parents to send their children to schools that reflect the parents’ faith and values. This should include choices in both the public and the independent schools.”
- Alan Keyes, Jan 7, 1999
“We’ve got to bring on the competition - open the schoolhouse doors and let parents choose the best school for their children. Education reformers call this school choice, charter schools, vouchers, even opportunity scholarships. I call it competition - the American way.”
- Donald Trump, The America We Deserve by Donald Trump, 2000
“I support true parental control of education. If you want to send your child to a parochial school, you should have the freedom to do so and the government should not stand in your way. If you want to homeschool your child, you should be free to do so and not have the whole bureaucracy on your backs with truancy. If you want your child in a secular school, go ahead. Freedom of choice for parents is absolutely critical.”
- Steve Forbes, GOP Debate in Johnston, Iowa Jan 16, 2000
“If the true mark of a society is the education that its poor and underprivileged receive - and I believe it is - then voucher programs should be embraced as a fundamental civil right.”
- Syndicated Columnist Armstrong Williams on “Vouchers give all kids a chance to excel,” Detroit Free Press, Sunday April 25, 1999
“Raise the topic of school choice and you have raised one of the most controversial and emotional issues of the day - especially among school teachers. Yet, after devoting 25 years to public schools, from elementary to community college, I have come to support school choice. Long-time friends and colleagues have been shocked. Some argue that, especially because I am Latino, I should never support sending public dollars to private schools. But my friends and colleagues are wrong. Giving Latino parents a stronger voice in their children’s education - that is, giving them more choices about where they can send their children to school - can only improve their children’s education and future.”
- Mario Chacón, an educator, is a former assistant superintendent for the Sequoia Union High School District in Redwood City
“Monopolies were outlawed for a good reason: they make bad products at high prices. I’m very clear on the idea we need a competitive educational environment.”
- Ted Forstmann, Children’s Scholarship Fund, in USA Today, April 21, 1999
“We’ve learned that just spending more money doesn’t buy you more success in the classroom.”
- Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, State of the State Address, Jan 31, 2001
Posted on February 18th, 2008 by Chuck Muth
Filed under: National
It’s too bad more people do not realize the ‘mission statement’ for unions is to make money and their product is ‘protection’. Vouchers would cause a lot of poor performing teachers to lose their jobs thus cutting the union’s income. “Follow the money’.
Americans are only free to the extent that they may freely choose their actions with the sole restriction that their choice does not impinge upon another’s right to “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” We are free to choose where we shop, where we travel, where we eat and were we spend both public and private dollars for education, with the single exception of K-12 public education!
In all other endeavors, where customers are free to choose, we are the envy of the entire world. Why is it then, that we would deny our children the opportunity for the best possible education? Of course, we wouldn’t, IF GIVEN THE CHOICE!
School choice is an idea whose time has come. I am elated to know that Nevada parents and children will at long last have the opportunity for this freedom that has so long been denied.
I predict that Nevadans will opt for this freedom in November, and that Nevada will go from the bottom of the barrel in K-12 education to near the top within five (5) years.
Chuck Muth: You are doing the sacred work that will bring the blessings of liberty to every American mom, dad and child. Please follow the plan put forth by the late, great Milton Friedman, which unlike any existing voucher plan, allows for maximum choice with the least restrictions. His plan will garner support from all segments of the population, and will be most resistant to the propaganda of the opposition.
The argument that school vouchers provide a solution to the weak school system is definitely full of holes. I appreciate the sense of urgency in passing legislation to improve the public school system, but I feel that throwing money into the voucher system may do more harm than good.
First of all, your argument that we need to “attain an educated populace,” but not necessarily through public schools, sounds to me that you are suggesting we should invest more in privatized education. Forgive me for not understanding, but if our nation turns to privatizing education, what are we doing for those students whose families will never be able to afford sending their kids to highly-priced schools? To this, you may answer: “Well, that’s what the vouchers are for!” But as right now, vouchers are only handed out on a lottery basis. Further, sometimes they only provide half the cost of a private education—undoubtedly insufficient for some families.
On another note, I am also failing to understand your comparison between secondary education vouchers and those provided by the G.I. Bill. The G.I. Bill rewards citizens who volunteer and risk their lives to serve in our military. Considering the lack of interest most young people have in our nation’s defense, providing incentives is imperative. Giving a free education for years’ worth of risking one’s life for the good of our country is hardly enough to pay soldiers back for their dedication. It would be completely insensitive to argue that we shouldn’t have this bill.
Secondary education vouchers are different though. We are rewarding students on a random lottery basis, which, yes, rewards those lucky students, but it also punishes the unlucky ones. You said that those working with you on this initiative have children of their own. How can you guarantee them that their student will be given a voucher? Do you think they would feel differently if they supported this, only to miss out on the vouchers and have their child left in the sub-par public school? I think not.
There are so many flaws in your counter-arguments, SRA, that it’s hard to know where to begin.
Some of your concerns will be answered once the final version of the initiative is resolved and announced, especially the matter of the lottery.
Secondly, your point about the GI bill is way off base. The point about the GI bill isn’t whether or not veterans deserve the benefit, only that public funds are used to allow students to attend either a public OR private school. It’s that principle we’re talking about here.
That you somehow took this to mean I’m arguing that veterans shouldn’t have this benefit is the kind of false, disinformation campaign I fully expect to get from the teachers union. It’s outrageous for you to even suggest such a thing.
Are you a member of the teachers union?
Hooray for Nevada! While I sometimes disagree with Chuck’s approach, I never disagree with the principle he adheres to, which is always Freedom First!
Our public schools (nationwide) are a public disgrace! The simple truth is, they fail to educate in any real sense, being devoted almost entirely to indoctrination. The simple fact that “Teachers Unions” have a strong voice in their operation is the best possible evidence that their purpose is other than the EDUCATION of our children. A teachers union is not an educational organization, it’s an organization designed to benefit EDUCATORS! We certainly need good teachers but what does their benefits package have to do with educating children?
This is just one small element in the overall failure of public education. Who believes our GOVERNMENT does anything better than private industry?
Government should never do anything that private industry is willing and able to do. Competition in private industry is what makes America great, not the functioning of our government, which is eternally reacting to the latest crisis, most of which it has created by it’s fumbling attempts to control our population, which is not and never was what it was created to do.
School choice is simply a small, first step in returning America to The People who supposedly own it…
Chuck,
I was very frustrated with the way things went in Utah regarding vouchers. The legislature crafted a good, if not perfect law, and the teachers’ unions poured millions into the state to first, get the voucher measure onto the ballot, and then, defeat it by benefit of massive public advertising. Proponents unfortunately could not match the dollars, nor did they follow up with illuminating rebuttal of the half-truths and outright lies in the unions’ TV and radio ads. The most rankling was “It’s a bill that’s just full of flaws!” They never specified what they thought were the flaws, and there was insufficient counter to the media blitz. The anti-voucher crowd succeeded in garnering nearly a 60-40 victory at the polls, with many votes based on the untruths in advertisements which ran ad nauseum for months. I hope you and the Nevada folks will be ready to follow up and rebut the ridiculous statements bound to be in the media spots from the NEA and their ilk.
I will support a a school choice initiative by donating both money and time as long as it is designed to be available to everyone in Nevada, not just a scheme to help the “poor underpriveleged” who, in too many cases, will not participate in such a program and will cause their children to remain victims of their poor choices. To be considered “fair”, aprorpriate public funded education should be available to everyone regardless of socioeconomic standing . Upper middle and higher income families place greater emphesis on education and could lend more support for the initiative.
I have my doubts whether there is enough time to educate the general public about school voucher programs and their benefits before this years election. This election cycle will be very emotionally charged between Dem/Rep rhetoric and showings in the Nevada caucauses favors a higher Dem turn out than repub turnout. This would not bode well for passage of an initiative this cycle. School vouchers are not a hot button topic for most people and will require a significant public awareness campaign to get people motivated enough to get to the polls to vote for it.
Sorry to sound pessimistic. I will donate money and time to get the initiatve on the ballot and passed, and I encourage everyone who agrees with the initiave to do the same in order to have a greater chance at success.
Chuck,
I’m actually only a student who is planning on becoming a teacher, and I’m glad to see that my counter-argument was one that you felt was worth addressing.
As far as the G.I. Bill, I would still argue that after service, a veteran should be able to go where ever he would like, public or private. It’s still completely different.
I would love to hear how you resolve the lottery issue. It seems like we’re going to have to raise taxes to pay for all of this tuition, but as a staunch conservative, it seems that you would be against doing so.
Thanks for replying to my post! I look forward to hearing from you.
-SRA
SRA is an example of my statement above of the need for serious public education on school voucher programs, their benefits and their cost saving potential.
SRA , College students have a plethora of colleges to choose from in the US. They choose their college based on academics, services and convenience. With this, the American university and college system has become the envy of the world. while due to Sate funded, union run monopolies our K-12 system falls behind the standards of all the rest of the industrialized nations. The GI bill is just an example of a government funded school voucher system that has worked well for the individuals who have used it.
The state of Nevada spends and average of 8,000 dollars per student per year. You want to be teacher, you can do the math to figure out how much is being spent in my kids classroom with 32 students.
” In fact, Education Department figures show that the average private elementary school tuition in America is less than $2,500. The average tuition for all private schools, elementary and secondary, is $3,116, or less than half of the cost per pupil in the average public school, $6,857. A survey of private schools in Indianapolis, Jersey City, San Francisco, and Atlanta shows that there are many options available to families with $3,000 to spend on a child’s education. Even more options would no doubt appear if all parents were armed with $3,000 vouchers.” http://www.cato.org/pubs/briefs/bp-025.html
It doesn’t take a college degree to see how vouchers can be given for all students without a “lottery” and will save the tax payers money.
SRA, The link I posted above was dated, I apologize. Here is a Link with a more recent survey of private school tuition; http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=16478
Both sites do a good job comparing the cost between private and public schools.
http://michellemalkin.com/2008/02/21/illegal-alien-bus-driver-arrested-in-minnesota-school-tragedy/
Steve,
Someone else brought your point to my attention a few days ago–that private school is less costly than public. But I still can’t seem to figure out how this is going to work. If education became privatized so that parents chose where to put their kids in school and paid for it out of pocket, would the government still maintain that all children MUST be enrolled in school? And if so, would we still have some taxes that went toward education vouchers of children whose parents are too poor to afford $3,000 a year?
Right now, isn’t it the case that if you are already paying for private school, you can get tax breaks so that you don’t into the voucher system? Once everyone is paying for schooling, who will provide the money for the vouchers that are to be given to low-income students.
Yes, I can do math… I am a math major. And $3,000 times 12 years of school is costly. My parents have done well for themselves and are almost going bankrupt sending me to college. And I try to thank them as often as I can because it is a wonderful gift. However, are we to just accept that some people CAN’T afford an education? I mean, fine with me, I’m lucky to have been born into a family that can provide for me… but I don’t think that most of America is going to go for that idea. It’s bad enough that my parents will be paying for everyone’s health care if McCain doesn’t win.
And yes, you’d be surprised, but I am a huge fan of McCain.
Thanks for your reply!
SRA
SRA,
Since you are going to college and have stated appreciation t o your parents for providing it for you, it shows you have a clear understanding of how important a good education is for everyone regardless of their socioeconomic standing. Voucher systems are a way to provide a good education to every child regardless of their their parent’s ability to pay. It is done by providing parents with more choices of where their child can attend school- either public or private.
I do not know how Chuck’s program will be structured, but the basics of a school voucher system are as follows. The State of NV spends about $8,000 per child per year to educate each child. The idea is to let the parents decide what school is best for their child-private or public- and let the money (or a portion of the money) follow the child to school the parent chooses. The parents now have a choice to send their child to a failing public school or to private schools that participate in the voucher program. Schools are still publicly funded but under a voucher program parents can send their kids to schools that the parents decide teaches the best curriculum for their child. You are not attending your college because a school district assigned it to you based on your zip code and the social engineering structure of a school district, its the same idea with school voucher systems. Send your kids to the school of your choice and let the state spend the money on better education rather than on continued failing government schools.
Good luck with your school, and it is good to see you take an interest in public policy questions. I hope I have explained this in a way that is understandable. Any questions, let me know.
Steve
Steve,
Maybe it’s just so hard for me to understand because I value education so much. It’s hard to imagine that people would chose to put their children in failing public schools.
Although… being raised in Mississippi, I guess can think back to quite a few poor folks who didn’t give a damn about education. I suppose that those individuals may keep the less efficient public schools functioning. I just feel sorry for the teachers that will be there for more than a couple years (which is all I plan on doing so far).
Is there the intention that some secondary schools will be more like colleges, with the outstanding Ivy Leagues and then the vocational schools that teach trade?
At any rate, I read your earlier post and agree that this process is something that people can’t just vote on and change immediately. And I think that’s its difficult to gauge exactly how the plan is going to pan out. Do you have a blog of your own? I’d love to read it!
-SRA