Reader comments
Utah's proposed voucher law subverts our American values

It's easy to tell that the writer was public schooled. Nobody who has any better education would believe that it is somehow un-American for parents to ask for some of their tax money back, for ANY reason.

Nothing subverts American values like indoctrinating entire generations of kids with the idea that teachers are a protected, elite class of employee.

I'm for anything that will tear down the existing monolith called public schools.

I'm a voucher supporter, but I see the author's concern and suppose that vouchers may potentially contribute. Still, government employees delivering education has resulted in schools that:

can't respond to a family's special needs;

can't discipline effectively;

can't resist indoctrination;

can't remove lazy or incompetent, but tenured 10% (you know you had some);

can't leave any child behind (i.e., must hold performers back to focus on lowest common denominator, while still letting them graduate when they can't read);

must pay the bottom 10% within 10% of the top 10%;

How about a restructuring that keeps today's schools completely in tact, but hands the management roll over to contractors? Then BUSINESS can pay today's public stars much better, and help those presently on white-collar welfare find a job at Home Depot. They could hire a retiring chemist with a knack for teaching kids, but today's system keeps him out over a silly "certificate".

We've got to do something, and handing more cash to bureaucrats hasn't worked here or in the 49 others that spend more than us. Not sure vouchers are the answer, but I'm still willing to give it a try in spite of the author's concerns!

We�ve got to try something, and the other 49 expensive experiments prove that handing cash over to unionized government bureaucrats is also not a wise course. Let�s try vouchers anyway and see what we learn.

Not sure what's going on. I've tried to post this several times and it never shows up. Sorry if it ended up posting multiple times.

Public schooled and we do well. I'm for help for kids in special situations, but mostly we need to concentrate on making what's available to everyone better, Thank you for this great article.

Public schools served our nation well, but so did covered wagons in their time. Problem is today the covered wagon makers have the political clout to stop development of the automobile. We won't move past our poor to average educational system without fundamental restructuring, and that isn't going to happen with the current crowd in charge. If they want me to vote against vouchers then tell me how they are going to make public education better.

But "values" your asking for my money too!

Vouchers are going down!

IF someone wants to go to a private school that is there right as long as they pay for it. Even in private schools you do many of the same things you do in public schools.

Homeschools you isolate yourself my problem with them is you think your values are superior why not share them it does hurt socially.

People don't go to work to help clients, teach students, operate on people, or perform other medical services, cut hair, stock shelves and cashier or deliver. They do that but go to serve the community and there fellowmen coworkers, customers and the likd.

That is why we don't grow all our own food, build all our own houses, do all our education, all our medical things. Go to work to do more than the job go to serve fellowmen in many ways.

Public education make it better and help influence the community in school and when you get out.

Mr. Gale is demonizing people who believe the current public education is not meeting the needs of a great many students. Would there even be a voucher debate if our schools were doing the job that parents expected? Defeat at the polls will not stop the desire for something better. If the present education estabilshment wants us to go away then LISTEN TO US AND FIX THE PROBLEMS. I personally don't think that will happen because there are a lot of powerful people (UEA among them) who are invested in the current train wreck. Besides, its much easier to simply call the opponents names.

I usually "amen" all that Don Gale has written, but not on this issue. In it's pure state, what Don says about vouchers is basic and ideally correct.
But the comments by Crandle, and Subverting American values are more realistic.
It has been my observation that there has not been enough accountability and vision in the Public School System for the last 50 years.

Crandle:

And where did you go to school and who paid for it? Did by chance so taxpayers foot the bill for your education.

By all means, lets tear down all of the public schools and send the kids back out into the fields. Who needs the next generation of doctors, scientists, etc? We can all just take our money and go home.

Subverting American Values: Do you even know who Don Gale is. He is one of the most respected editorialist in the valley. For years he worked at KSL (a very conservative organization). You miss one major point. Not everyone who pays taxes is a a parent. We don't have a head tax for education system. If it were just parents paying for education, great, take your money and go elsewhere. But that is not the case. Everyone pays for public education. It is a PUBLIC good. Go back to your basic high school economics class if you need a refresher course on public vs. private goods.

Feel good about ourselves. Feel good about anything and everything. Feel good about high fuel prices and energy conservation. Don Gale is for feeling good about it, period. No matter the mediocrity of the masses. Education is not about just feeling good. It is about being competitive in a multitude of fields. That's what, in the end gives us awareness of environmental needs, business goals that improve ALL our lives, science that works bothe ends of the spectrum and the luxury to read ourselves into fantasy and firm values.
Don Gale is a fossil who is entitled to his opinion, but ought not be trotted out as a show horse for the feel good politics of mediocrity and pablum the DN hopes will sway the debate between pro and anti voucher supporters. He is so predictable there is nor reason to waste newsprint. Just print his name and we'll know where he stands, firmly and resoulutely astride the "peace at any cost" fence.

I hear a lot of "let's just try something" coming from the pro voucher group. We're headed from a train wreck if we govern that way. Instead, let's make a plan for improving public schools. Bring in outside consultants if you have to. But keep private schools private.

The attacks and criticisms of our public school system are completely unfounded. We have the best educated population in the history of the world.

Despite the media representations of a system that is falling behind the rest of the world. all we have to do is ask them to try to educate everyone rather than just the elite, and we move back to the top ... by a large margin.

Our schools are not failing. For every story you can tell about a student who failed, I can tell you 100 success stories. We already have funding system in place to address special needs.

Our education system is not perfect, but it is very good. We can make it even better, and we have been constantly improving it. Encouraging and rewarding opting out is not the solution.

TRK, I completely agree but vouchers are not the way.

Don Gale speaks for our country. Let's all help the schools. The schools do a great job in meeting the needs of all students, from those with disabilities to those with high intellectual capacities, from those with the support of two loving parents to those with the support of one loving parent or grandparent, from those who speak English as a first language to those who are learning English, from those who learned to read at age 4 to those who struggle to learn to read at 10. I applaud all hard working, concerned teachers.

To me, vouchers are elitist. Also, since when are our taxes "our money" to be returned to us. How silly. Whenever government takes "our money," it get divided and spent in various programs. It never returns to us, and if it did it would be much less than it started out to be. As a young family, our children's education cost much more than we were taxed. As grandparents in a higher income, we pay much more than the total our children cost. However, we are helping others become contributing members of society.

Julie is right--it is our obligation as citizens to support and pay for public education for all. (Whether you have children in school or not is irrelevant, just as you must pay for roads with your tax money even if you only ride public transportation.) That said, I'm not sure I'm 100% behind Gale's implication that I am not a good citizen if I do not send my children to public schools. Many of the public schools where I live are places I would not want to send my children. However, I will continue to support these schools with my taxes -- they must only be strengthened, not weakened! -- while sending my children to private schools.

It's this simple. Vouchers will use public money to pay for private education. That's not right.

To "tired ...": About a month ago, we read in the papers that 27% of our high school graduates could not even pass a basic competency test. I accept your challenge. I present these 27% and ask you to stack up 100 successes against each one of them.