In yet another setback for the advocates of school choice, the people of Utah soundly rejected a ballot initiative authorizing school vouchers. The program would have given Utah citizens the opportunity to use vouchers to send their children to the schools of their choice, depriving the state of its monopoly in the field of public education.
Naturally news reports have slanted the issue, arguing that voters rejected the measure because it recognized no distinction among parent’s income or whether or not a child was enrolled in a “failing” school, essentially painting the voucher initiative as an effort to subsidize private school. This is a ludicrous argument but highly successful amongst the sheep like, demagogue susceptible, wealth envious electorate.
The fact remains that property owners, both upper and lower incomes, pay a sizeable share of taxes to finance public education for their children. Through vouchers these families would have a choice in how those tax dollars are spent vis-à-vis their child’s education. The fact that some parents who are more well to do may benefit is of no consequence and highlights the extent to which class warfare dominates the psyche of so many American voters today.
The fundamental issue here is choice and freedom for parents to determine how best to educate their children, if a parent feels the state supported school is in their child’s best interest then so be it, but if a private education suits the interests and goals of a parent they should not be penalized for that choice as they are under the current tax structure.
It comes as no surprise that groups like the NEA oppose voucher initiatives, after all this would strike at the heart of school monopolies and force teachers to compete with merit being a determining factor.
With this most recent rejection of vouchers one must ask the question if Americans truly value freedom, we have seen at every turn how quickly they embrace one government initiative after another that removes the burden of individual decision making and personal responsibility. We have seen how soundly average Americans reject social security reform when it entails having to make decisions of how best to save for your own retirement, perhaps Americans truly detest freedom preferring a paternalistic state in which decisions are made for them at every opportunity. What’s next in the onslaught?
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h3qRt_iAvMUQqQhogrxblTiSkrKwD8SONIQO0
