School Vouchers suck, and here's why...

Nate Silver over at 538.com discusses who is calling for school vouchers: Rich whites and poor black people. Who does this leave out...AGAIN...as always? The middle class. I would love to see some actuarial study showing a breakdown of how much the middle class gets for their money compared two the rich and the poor. The rich spend a ton, but they get a ton. The poor don't spend much, but there are gov't programs giving them something. I'm just sayin'...

Now, here's why they suck...and there's a simple reason why: Lets say school X sucks bad. Three miles away, school Y is one of the best in the city. So, a generous group of parents from school X, decide to take the school choice and move their children to school Y.

This causes class sizes in school Y to go up, and any teacher worth their salt will tell you that class size matters. Class chemistry can matter even more, but by adding more pupils, you make keeping the chemistry right that much more tenuous.

The effect will be that school Y plummets in it's performance on test scores, causing the parents to get miffed yet again. Meanwhile, the lost of cash to school X has been crippling. Leaving the students who are poorer to be stuck at a crappy school with less money than before, and no hope of really getting better for years to come.

This is why the families in the inner cities supporting school vouchers flummox me. There is NO WAY the cash they will get as their voucher will seriously cover the full cost of tuition at another school, leaving them stranded with no school to call their own.

Look, as an educator, I know some things need to be fixed. But, it costs money to teach students well. A LOT of money! There's an old saying in the financial investing world: "You have to spend money to make money."

Well, you have to spend money to teach students effectively. We should in no way be trying to do this on the cheap.