Jophiel wrote:
I understand that it wasn't your argument but I found it telling that Gbaji's examples weren't even "A parent might want a school that focuses more on math than science" but "what about prayer? And keeping gays away from prom? And Sex ed? 'Social indoctrination'?..."
Um... Because I was speaking about the problems we have with the existing system Joph. Specifically, problems with issues outside of just curriculum focus (since that was the topic of this thread if you recall). The biggest problem with the public school system is that every child who cannot afford to attend a private school, or doesn't want or cannot attend a religious school,
must attend a specific single public school (with some rare exceptions for charter schools and such). This makes issues about what is taught much bigger than they should be. More relevantly, it makes issues of what parents
don't want their kids taught a much bigger issue.
You were presenting an argument based on all the time and trouble it would cause to switch to a full voucher system, so I countered with all the time and trouble we're spending right now debating all of these issues. While students certainly would benefit by being able to choose to attend a school with a greater math focus or art focus, we don't tend to spend as much time publicly debating that as we do whether or not a school should be able to tell a gay student she can't bring her partner to the prom. Unless you can show me how many threads we have in the last year on the subject of art vs math in school?
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He's not asking for better education -- he even admits that it won't be better education.
Oh come on Joph! WTF?
I said that even if we accept
your assertion that education wont be improved, the benefits in other areas still make it worth doing. I happen to believe that the long term result will be a better overall education quality, but my position is so much stronger than your's that I "win" even if that isn't the case. Way to spin things though!
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What he wants are conservative placation hives. He's envisioning a cottage industry of new schools popping up, funded by taxpayer vouchers which offer not a better education but a comfortable political ideology for the parents.
That's what we have now. The difference is that right now, all the publicly funded schools teach the same political ideology. You support this because it happens to match yours. Gee. How convenient for you!
Are you that afraid of allowing students to be taught something other than the liberal party line? What do you think will happen here Joph? It's always funny how the principle of diversity fades from the liberal mind as soon as it includes any ideas that they don't themselves believe in...
