School Choice Passes in Louisiana
June 13th, 2008 at 04:26am Mark Noonan
What you get when conservatism is at the helm:
In a major legislative success for Gov. Bobby Jindal, the Louisiana Senate voted 25 to 12 on Wednesday for a bill that would let up to 1,500 low- to middle-income students in New Orleans attend private schools at taxpayer expense.
Already approved by the House, the bill, a $10 million school voucher measure, needs one more routine vote in that body on the Senate language changes before it goes to Mr. Jindal, a Republican, for signing.
Backers say the bill will help some New Orleans children escape a struggling school system that has for years been known for corruption, bad management and poor student performance.
The public school systems don’t work - and in fact, for the most part, they never can work…given the nature of humanity, trying to figure out what is best for millions of kids from a huge variety of backgrounds is impossible. The best we can do is allow parents the flexibility to choose what education they think best for their own children - and school choice is the sharp edge of this new education paradigm which will return to families their power to educate their children.
More and more I come to the conclusion that the strongest indicator of impending failure is how big the proposal is - the more anyone tries to do, the more likely they’ll get it wrong. Keep it small; keep the decision making down on the lowest level possible - do that, and even if there is a monumental screw up, then it will at least affect a smaller number of people. Right now, a few school board dimwits can wreck things for hundreds of thousands of kids at a stroke - a private school can, at most, mess up the lives of a few hundred kids. Additionally, when you put the choice down at the lower level, you’re more likely to get a decision driven by genuine knowledge of what is needed - here in Las Vegas, we have a school board which proposes to figure out what a kid in Summerlin (the rich area) and a kid off Fremont Street (the poor area) needs. It can’t be done. The parents of the Summerlin and Fremont kids, however, likely do know what is needed - as would someone running a private school in each area.
And, now, as an aside - this is yet another major accomplishment which pretty much outweighs all of what Obama has done in his lifetime…given this, I’ll once again offer my prayer that John McCain will look towards Louisiana for a Vice President.
Entry Filed under: Social Issues
19 Comments
1. kjstrouble | June 13th, 2008 at 4:35 am
The more I hear about Jindal the more I agree. He is a strong conservative with real experience in governing. That he is so much younger than McCain is actually a point in his favor. We can only hope that if offered the position he would take it.
2. Dennis | June 13th, 2008 at 4:47 am
1.) It took a hundred year hurricane that nearly cost America a major city to create the conditions necessary to bring about this voucher measure.
2.) Public schools do work, for the most part, very well. At least they did until “no child left behind” came along. And I speak as a product of private schools. My own children attended public school.
3.) Sen. Obama’s lifetime achievements speak for themselves - and they have only just begun.
4.) Sen. McCain will not have a vice president. One must become president to have a veep.
3. extramedium | June 13th, 2008 at 4:56 am
“And, now, as an aside - this is yet another major accomplishment which pretty much outweighs all of what Obama has done in his lifetime…given this, I’ll once again offer my prayer that John McCain will look towards Louisiana for a Vice President.”
(chuckles) Nice. You’re preparing a narrative that somehow suggests that Jindal shouldn’t be held to the same standards of experience that you’ve been hammering Obama with. But then again, its really just about beating the liberals, and not about being fair and consistent, right?
As an aside, I do like school choice initiatives - not enough to vote for four more years of conservative power, but do I like them.
4. Danish Artist | June 13th, 2008 at 6:13 am
“Public schools do work, for the most part, very well.”
Tell that to the inner city and poor to middle class parents and they will laugh in your face.
Being from New Orleans, a liberal controlled city mind you, the school system was a disaster. This is exactly what they needed.
Yes, it took a hurricane….too bad the same politicians are there, Katrina did not clean them out, unlike some of the rifraff of the city.
“Obama’s lifetime achievements speak for themselves” - “PRESENT” comes to mind mostly and “Change we can believe in”. Unfortunately, for Obama, Jindal’s accomplishments at both the state and federal level in a fraction of Obama’s career, massively outweigh the Obamassiah’s alledged achievements.
Jindal made solvent Louisiana’s ailing public medical and hospitalization program. Maybe the Obamassiah should pick Jindal as VP. But, in that case the VP would outshine the President.
Dennis, you are delusional and an Obamaniac to pretend that “public schools work for the most part”. Yeah, in some rural areas untouched by liberal hands. Some areas where public schools do work is because they also have school choice and that keeps the liberal bureaucracy out of the way.
Too bad, Dennise, history and reality, outweigh your fantasy beliefs.
5. John Adams | June 13th, 2008 at 7:57 am
Deleted - off topic; and if you want to bring up the Coushatta tribe, you should prominently describe Harry Reid’s curious letters on their behalf.
6. Brian (Boston) | June 13th, 2008 at 8:31 am
We will have to see if the students do any better. Philadelphia did something similar by letting a business run schools. The students were not doing any better than the average public school.
7. CanadianObserver | June 13th, 2008 at 8:39 am
4. Danish Artist | June 13th, 2008 at 6:13 am
“Public schools do work, for the most part, very well.”
Tell that to the inner city and poor to middle class parents and they will laugh in your face.
———————————–
Why, in the greatest democracy the world has ever seen, is the public school system failing its
children? Shouldn’t the education of your future generations be one of the top priorities?
Take care of your own citizens first, and then perhaps you can spread your kind generosity to all those ME countries begging for U.S. style democracy.
8. neocon | June 13th, 2008 at 8:52 am
CO,
Tell that to the NEA. Which is very liberal oriented and dominated by Democrats. That is the organization responsible for the failure of our educational system.
It’s called BIG education.
9. HarkeysBar | June 13th, 2008 at 10:03 am
I grew up in Philadelphia and went through their public school system. Granted , some districts are really, really bad but others are not. I graduated high school and went to Drexel(also in Philly) for my degree. Overall the public schools aren’t the best but I wouldn’t say they are failing and do not work at all.
10. InDaVa | June 13th, 2008 at 10:11 am
Deleted - off topic, and strange that anyone would bring up Blanco’s last-minute, 2003 slander of Jindal…
11. neocon | June 13th, 2008 at 10:50 am
So now those who believe holistic healing are “cuckoo”, according to liberals.
So let’s summarize:
Iraqis don’t deserve, or capable of, living in a democracy.
Christians are more of a threat than Islamist extremists.
Whites are racist of they don’t vote for Obama
And holistic healers are cuckoo
They certainly know how to unite, don’t they.
12. Kahn | June 13th, 2008 at 11:25 am
John Adams - it’s customary here to include your source when you so clearly cut and paste an entry.
School vouchers. I thought Democrats believed in “Freed of Choice”??? Does that apply to abortion only? And if the kids are going to different svhools, why shouldn’t the money (collected under threat of legal action, also called “taxes”) follow them? What right do failing bureaucratically bloated systems have to the money collected in the name of kids?
13. Mark Noonan | June 13th, 2008 at 11:40 am
Harkey,
I grew up in San Diego and even back in the 1970’s the public school system there was just about useless as a means of educating…I got more out of my father’s books than I ever did out of public school…and I knew how to read before I even showed up, so you can’t even credit the school with teaching me to read so that I could take advantage of Dad’s library.
The fundamental problem with the public school system is that is proposes to provide a one size fits all education paradigm…it just can’t be done, and in the attempt to do so it just becomes the playground of educationst cranks wanting to experiment.
Break it up, break it down - allow parents to rule the roost, but also give the schools the absolute authority to expel students at need.
14. InDaVa | June 13th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Mark,
I agree for the most part with you…
15. InDaVa | June 13th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Mark,
And the Jindal story has nothing to do with Blanco. Jindal’s experience ,which he wrote himself ,was published in the New Oxford Review in 1994.
Kahn,
Are you equating an exorcism with holistic healing?
16. Mark Noonan | June 13th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
InDaVa,
I believe the story of Jindal and the exorcism is a bit overdrawn, and I’m not going to have it used as a means of confusing the issue here - what Jindal did was in line with very common Catholic practice, using this prayer:
You see, we Christians really do believe that the Enemy exists and he is trying all the time to ruin us - and that the primary battle we have is spiritual, not physical. What Blanco tried to do is paint Catholicism as some sort of screwball religion as a means of garnering Protestant votes…and this was coupled with a rather raw racial appeal to vote against the dark skinned Jindal.
To bring it up is, of course, off topic here - and it is a means of trying to deflect attention from the real issue. I’ve done this bit just to explain my views, and help you understand why I’m not going to have a thread become a debate about exorcism.
17. InDaVa | June 13th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Point taken. I apologize for going OT. As stated above, I agree with you on this issue.
18. Danish Artist | June 13th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
CO:
“Shouldn’t the education of your future generations be one of the top priorities?”
To some it is, to liberals it is a means of control, social indoctrination and a haven for politcal and personal corruption.
There are areas where public schools are better that private. These are mostly in non-urban districts. It depends how deeply the unions’ influence has penetrated the depths of the school’s personnel. Sad to say, many school districts want federal money, but get highly offended when the federal government wants an accounting of how the money was spent.
In New Orleans, there was an idea passed to let DEGREED ENGINEERS, JOURNALISTS, SCIENTISTS and other DEGREED PROFESSIONALS to teach their subject of expertise. Of course, the teacher’s union had a fit and made it next to impossible for these people to teach without getting additional education! A DOCTOR OF ENGINEERING could not teach Algebra, but a substitute with nothing more than a teaching certificate could.
Amazing how corrupt liberal bureaucrats can screw it up. When any type of teaching evaluation is brought up, the unions go crazy. I guess keeping incompetence in place is better than teaching our children.
19. Kahn | June 14th, 2008 at 12:38 am
“Are you equating an exorcism with holistic healing?”
Afraid you lost me on this. Freedom of Choice is a big phrase. It’s a big idea. An idea that goes far beyond the concept of it being a personal choice to terminate the life of your baby. But I digress.
Taxes are collected to educate children. But the school systems in some places suck. Now, you wouldn’t force someone to go go to a hospital that sucks, or to buy food at a place that sucks. This would be true even if the person was on welfare or food stamps. So, why should it apply to education?
What I hear the teachers unions say is “But you’re taking the money away from the schools systems.” Well, yah. The money is collected to educate the kids, not to pay union members. Do a better job and the kids will stay. If they leave, the money should follow them.
Seems straight forward to me.