All over Washington we see a lot of people saying that they care about a lot of things. In a city full of politicians, you having people saying anything to get their desired outcome of events. However, there is one group that is being left out. DC’s poorest families are being forced to go to the worst schools in the country. No matter how many reports come out stating how much the kids that are in private schools are improving, opponents of school choice will not budge on the issue. The Ominbus spending bill requires the funds to be reauthorized by Congress, and they have no interest in doing that, even though a lot of them practice school choice.
The Wall Street Journal referenced an article by Science Magazine where they asked Sec. Duncan about where his daughter goes to school and if it was a determining factor of where they were going to live. He said this:
She goes to Arlington [Virginia] public schools. That was why we chose where we live, it was the determining factor . . . I didn’t want to try to save the country’s children and our educational system and jeopardize my own children’s education.
Sec. Duncan, not everyone is as privileged as you. Why deny kids and parents the same opportunities you have? Reason TV asked the same question. We’ve pointed out that Washington, DC spends almost twice as much on a student in a public school then it does to give a child a scholarship to go to a school that actually performs well. The Wall Street Journal calls this hypocrisy on school choice the new “Do as I say, not as I do” standard. When did this become acceptable?
There is hope though. An organization called DC Children First and they are having rally in support of school choice. Look for updates from the Heritage Foundation on the latest developments.
Where the hell are the Republicans in Congress and why aren't they making a big scene along with DC Children First?
Why aren't the Republicans conducting a fund-raiser to send those kids to their schools of choice and embarrass the Obama elitist hypocrisy. I wish I was a millionaire and I would be glad to have helped those kids. They deserve better than the treatment they are getting from the scoundrels in the Congress.
We throw more and more money toward public education and the education system gets worse except in wealthy areas. We spend more money than we have ever spent in our history.
If you want to see what government does when it runs a sector, look at education. It is time to get rid of feel good courses, diversity courses and go back to teaching civics, self responsibility and the 3 R's.
Get rid of the department of education – not part of the constitution and put the schools back into local communities. Decentralize it as soon as possible.
As for the D.C. Schools, give the vouchers back to the poor soles in D.C. since they are under congressional oversight. I guess Congressional oversight of schools doesn't work either; D.C. schools are some of the worst in the country I have heard.