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Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2007 > May > 04 > Entry
Dayton vouchers make front page news in Chicago
(Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland on a visit to Wright State University in March.)
A friend who flew through Chicago yesterday handed me Thursday’s Chicago Tribune and pointed out a front page story featuring LaTeefah Appleberry, an Alter High School student who uses a publicly-funded voucher to pay tuition at the private, Catholic high school.
The story was about the school choice movement generally and pitted 14-year-old LaTeefah against Gov. Ted Strickland, pointing out that both are from humble backgrounds but the young student views her voucher as a savior and the governor has declared war on vouchers.
There’s just one problem with the story. Two days earlier Strickland called for a cease-fire in the war and signed a truce, otherwise known as the state budget, that left alone the school choice programs he had targeted.
The Tribune story pitched Ohio as an example of a state that is taking stock of school choice and re-examining its merits. There is no doubt Strickland is not a fan of school choice and his proposals to eliminate vouchers and curtail charters was a shock to some Ohio-based choice supporters.
But in the end, Strickland traded away those proposals to get other things he wanted in the budget. And on Tuesday, The Ohio House stunningly passed the budget bill 97-0, one of the very, very few examples of bill with complete bipartisan support in the state’s history.
So it seems a bit strange that two days later, the Tribune assigned a story about the battle over school choice in Ohio to its front page. Give it a read and tell us what you think.
(Image credit: DDN)
Permalink | Comments (8) | Categories: Charter Schools and School Choice
Comments
By e-schooler mom
May 11, 2007 8:03 AM | Link to this
As a mother that uses a virtual charter school I wanted to say that it seems some of you have no clue to the facts. I am a grad student about to recieve my PHD in Psychology, so I am more than able to choose how to educate my child. I choose to give him life. I taught him to walk, talk, and pray, I can teach him everything he would learn in school and so much more. If you would like to see what type of work he does you may at ohva.org and they use k-12. My child has never been in any trouble, I dont smoke or drink or use any drugs. Please check your facts before posting such a ignorant statement. Also, I am a suburb mom and this school did not work for one child while my other child is still in the school here and doing well. One system does not work for all.By Peter J
May 7, 2007 10:12 AM | Link to this
Oh here we go Old Professor, I should have known that the �these poor people don�t know what�s good for them so they need the intelligentsia to show them the way� argument would come out sooner or later. People pay taxes, a ton of them. You are acting like they should have no say at all over how that money is spent. They should just keep pouring it over to the bureaucracy blindly. Do you think it�s an accident that the number of voucher requests has doubled? Or do these stupid working class people just not know what is good for them as much as you do Professor?By Oldprof
May 6, 2007 5:01 PM | Link to this
Mary continues to parrot the tired old bromides about parents “needing” school choice. Mary, many of the parents upon whom you vest the power to choose are not conspicuous examples of good choice-makers. How many of them chose to pursue an education and a productive career in their own lives? How many regularly gamble (with money they can’t afford to lose), smoke, drink to excess, indulge in narcotics, engage in irresponsible sexual relations, and descend into violence? If you want these children to break the cycles that depress our urban centers, you MUST do what the Ohio constitution mandates; provide ONE thorough and efficient system of education. Multiple hodge-podges of pseudo-“choice” will not work; and (you’re right here) bureaucratic red tape will not work. But six or twelve different systems, many administered by amateurs, will work even less.By Moondog
May 6, 2007 11:09 AM | Link to this
I don’t think that parochial schools need someone else to pay for their operation. The parochial school operation consistently produces better students and better citizens than the government school operation. The parochial schools are able to do this at roughly half the cost of the underperforming government schools. The question is why do people continue to dump money into a failing system?By sharon
May 5, 2007 9:55 PM | Link to this
I agaree with David that the suburban schools will see some big changes if and when a lot of the urban kids start infiltrating the suburban schools. These kids and their parents are used to having their way about everything. Principals are afraid to make parents mad for fear they won’t support the levies. The last thing a principal wants is to be called to a supervisor’s office about an angry parent. They don’t care whether the principal was right or not. As long as we have this mentality, nothing in the public schools is going to change.By David
May 4, 2007 7:17 PM | Link to this
The failing schools ae failing because their students are failing. Put teeth back into the discipline, make the parents responsible, and quit the games on blaming teachers for poor behaviors of some students in their classrooms and the other kids will be able to improve. As for school “choice” being the solution, it’s not because the kids and the parents are the problem. When they move to other schools, they take their bad behaviors with them in many cases. Other suburban school districts will start to have more problems as more city kids “escape” the problem school which is really themselves and their parents teamed with a poor administration that wants discipline to be few and far between instead of swift, certain, and final. The idea of vouchers was not intended to pay for parochial schools. But all along since Reagan the parochial schools have wanted someone else to pay for their operation. I recall his campaigning in Cincinnati and his promising to support money to pay for their schools. Since then things have devolved into the Republican mess we have now playing politics with schools.By Mary
May 4, 2007 2:16 PM | Link to this
I thought it was an intersting article even though it was not up to speed on late developments. Unfortunately, a lot of news articles are that way. However, it reinforces the fact that the public wants and needs choices outside the public education bureaucracy. Until such time as the bureacracy gets its focus and act together on a solid school day and academic program with quality administrators and teachers, and an appreciation of differing needs and abilities among students, it is not serving the public interest. You should not be sacrificing a child and their education on the altar of a government bureaucracy.By Eric
May 4, 2007 11:50 AM | Link to this
Not that surprised. Many areas are looking for a ‘magic bullet’ cure for their failing schools. Oh and BTW the link requires you to register. Eric