Education. The Rich Get Richer. The Poor, Well, Who Cares?
Lee Davidson and JTC present an informative piece on differences between schools on the east (richer) and west (poorer) sides of Salt Lake County.
Teachers on the east side have more experience and higher degrees. Those are the two factors used to differentiate pay among teachers. Thus, the better teachers (districts’ criteria, not mine) – the ones with better options – prefer the richer schools. And, there, they deliver a superior product.
So, rich kids are offered a better public education than poor kids.
However, if the superior public education of the rich kids is not superior enough, their folks can afford to send them to private school. Good for them. It’s nice to have options.
But, if the inferior public education of the poor kids is not good enough for them, well, that’s just too bad. Let them eat school lunch.
This is why we need vouchers. Vouchers give options to people of limited means. Customers with options get better results. This is why I bristled at the Senate Education Committee when the good Senator from Holladay informed us that her constituents just don’t like vouchers. Good for them. It’s nice to be rich.
Teachers on the east side have more experience and higher degrees. Those are the two factors used to differentiate pay among teachers. Thus, the better teachers (districts’ criteria, not mine) – the ones with better options – prefer the richer schools. And, there, they deliver a superior product.
So, rich kids are offered a better public education than poor kids.
However, if the superior public education of the rich kids is not superior enough, their folks can afford to send them to private school. Good for them. It’s nice to have options.
But, if the inferior public education of the poor kids is not good enough for them, well, that’s just too bad. Let them eat school lunch.
This is why we need vouchers. Vouchers give options to people of limited means. Customers with options get better results. This is why I bristled at the Senate Education Committee when the good Senator from Holladay informed us that her constituents just don’t like vouchers. Good for them. It’s nice to be rich.
posted by steve u. at 7/16/2007
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20 Comments:
Amen.
I get tired of people and groups like the Utah Democratic Party who say that private schools are for segregationists and white supremacists. Public elementary schools are highly segregated.
If you are rich, you just move to a neighborhood where all of the people are rich (and usually white) and the schools are fine.
I just wish you guys had increased the maximum voucher amount to $4,000 or more instead of $3,000 so even more low income children could attend private schools.
This post shows just how out-of-touch you are. Vouchers for the poor kids on the west side sounds good until you look a little closer. Of the 40 or so private schools in SL county, only 2 are anywhere near where the poor kids could attend. Nobody is dumb enough to build a private school in Glendale, for example. Would you? The private schools are in the rich areas and that is where the voucher money will go also.
Steve (the commenter, not the legislator)-
You said,
"Nobody is dumb enough to build a private school in Glendale, for example. Would you?"
I agree, nobody would now, no one has the money to send their students to private school, there is no demand. But if every student had access to $3,000 to spend at a private school, Ill bet you would start to see a lot more being built in the west. The demand would increase and the supply would follow.
Josh
The pro-voucher argument leans heavily on giving poor kids a chance. Why do we have a universal voucher law which includes the rich? Was it to broaden the appeal so there would be enough support to get it passed? If vouchers were only for the poor it would make more sense although the Carson Smith vouchers which are only for the disabled, according to recent news reports, do not make much difference for those kids.
I've yet to be convinced to support vouchers.
This might have already been asked and answered, but would the voucher amount cover the cost of a private school?
Cameron - here's an earlier post that addressed that question.
http://steveu.com/blog/2007/06/vouchers-and-cost-of-private-schools.html
Josh,
You are so right. What was I thinking?
For 3 thousand dollars per student, wealthy private investors will fall all over themselves trying to get their foot into the graffiti riddled, crime infested, drug ridden neighborhoods on the west side.
Oh, and George Bush is the Uniter.
A classroom with 30 students at $3,000 tuition would be $90,000. At $10,000 for a single room rent and utilities, $10,000 for books and equipment, wouldn't $70,000 be enough for the cost of a teacher, insurance and profit? Or maybe a non-profit organization (as most parochial schools), that could also get donations that would be tax deductible.
Other Steve,
You say: "For 3 thousand dollars per student, wealthy private investors will fall all over themselves trying to get their foot into the graffiti riddled, crime infested, drug ridden neighborhoods on the west side."
Cheery little view of the west side and its prospects.
As for being out of touch, I'd suggest that your comments show a lack of knowledge and perspective. With incentives, tomorrow's world is different than today's world. This already has been shown with education and vouchers.
The Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarhip faced all the very same arguments raised against Universal Vouchers. One of those arguments was that "there are not schools that will take the voucher for new students." The one existing school was full to capacity. Thus, in a static world, the argument was correct. However, with the incentive, there now are 3 private schools that happily take the special needs voucher and successfully meet the needs of students and parents.
Do I think the Universal Voucher will prompt market behavior in less-affluent areas? Yes. Of course it will. Even in crappy areas where people doggedly refuse to be rich.
Steve, thank you for leading this conversation on your blog. I read about you in an interview you did with Paul DiPerna on the www.blauexchange.org
I lead a Chicago non profit that is using maps to show the relationship of concentrated inner city poverty to poorly performing schools and many other negative outcomes that have a high cost to society.
I also use concept maps to illustrate that this is a complex problem and needs comprehenisive long term solutions.
You can view these in the Program Locator and Tutor/Mentor Institute sections of http://www.tutormentorconnection.org
I encourage you and other elected leaders to adopt the use of maps so that your policies actually reach kids in all of the places where they need help, and your role as a leader, connects volunteers, donors, businesses and faith communities with the non profits and schools in these communities.
Paul did an interview with me in January. You can find it in the archives of his site.
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