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Re: [Phys-L] Private schools

No, many private schools do not adhere to State standards... our does not have any testing and we are free to follow any curriculum we like. In fact they do not require teachers to be certified. It just so happens we all are, but that is often not the case in many private religious oriented schools.

So, anti-American and anti science schools should receive tax money? Is that really what you are saying.??
On Jul 10, 2012, at 4:02 PM, LaMontagne, Bob wrote:

Why would you not extend it to "anyone"? The idea of a voucher system is that every stakeholder has the ability to vote with their feet. I would assume that every school (public, private, charter, magnet, etc.) would have certain minimum state mandated standards relating to content, number of meeting days, number of contact hours, etc. - but after that I would hope that it is up to the parents to determine where their child is to attempt to attend. Many assume that if vouchers are used then the public schools will empty out and people will send their kids to schools run by cults and the like - sucking up all the money. In reality, most people want to send their kid to a neighborhood school, even if it is not the best school in the system. There are only so many teachers available, and only so many people willing to invest private money in schools that are going to lose money.

I have never understood the argument that all the disciplinary problems and academically untalented will end up back in the public schools. These same kids are in the public schools right now.

So, you add back the ones who can't hack the discipline in the charter or private school... Youy seem to forget we HAVE to keep them. When was the last time you TAUGHT in a public school in the city? And, YES, you have to see it from the trenches to understand what goes on. It's so easy to observe from the safety of your university ivory tower.

We used to get those who were asked not to return to the local Catholic high school...every quarter they sent a few back to us because we were the sending school for that particular parochial school. They also received students from all over the area, so I imagine others were returned to their own districts. In those days the charter movement was just beginning so the elementary schools would receive back several from charters and other private schools who were asked not to return.

What happens to them? They either never graduate because they drop out, or they get an "attendance prize" diploma. How would that be different with vouchers?

These are not the problem kids I am worried about but those whose parents are so fundamental about their religion that they don't believe in the democratic values that the majority follow... if you have a school full of those where the maps do not include Israel or where the biology books teach that dinosaurs were left behind at the Flood.... Is that what you want supported by your tax dollars?

There might be a small redistribution of where these problem kids end up, but it won't be dramatically different. One would need an infinite number of alternative schools for that to happen. Others on the list have described what happens in their own systems when problem students are encountered - I won't rehash that here.

BTW, Deborah Gist, who is superintendent of Providence Schools proposed a three tiered diploma system a few years ago. The lowest tier would have "attended" stamped on the diploma, while the upper would have "distinguished" written on it. That concept was roundly squashed by the teacher union and others who did not want students to graduate with the stigma of a lower tiered diploma. So now they just drop out as they have done in the past.

Bob at PC

-----Original Message-----
From: phys-l-bounces@mail.phys-l.org [mailto:phys-l-bounces@mail.phys-
l.org] On Behalf Of ron mcdermott
Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2012 2:55 PM
To: Phys-L@phys-l.org
Subject: Re: [Phys-L] Private schools

What kind of voucher system would you envision, and how would you run it
without negatively impacting the public schools financially? I'm willing to be
enlightened, but I've been discussing this issue with others for years, and I
think I've seen ONE system that MIGHT work - IF it remained as limited as it
was initially. The main problem with any voucher system is that the goal of
most supporters is to extend it to ANYONE who wants it, including people
whose kids are currently in private schools. Even UNextended, virtually all of
them will hurt public schools financially.

On Tue, Jul 10, 2012 at 2:03 PM, LaMontagne, Bob
<RLAMONT@providence.edu>wrote:

What I am a strong advocate of, however, is the use of vouchers.
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