DADvocate

The bill limits the vouchers to low income students, not enough but a step in the right direction.

The state Senate on Thursday approved a school voucher bill that allows lower-income students to take half of the taxpayer money spent per pupil in their school district - about $4,300 per year in Knox County - to any private, church-sponsored or other independent school that will accept them.

They may also take the money to any other public or charter school that has room for them.

As written, the bill will initially apply only to students whose household income qualifies them for free or reduced-price school lunches, and only to students in Tennessee's four largest counties: Knox, Shelby, Davidson and Hamilton. School districts in all four counties opposed the bill.

Districts in all four counties oppose the bill? Surprise, surprise. Institutional greed.

Private, religious and public universities and colleges receive government money through various channels. Why not do that at the K-12 levels? Middle and upper income already have the choice to send their kids to private/religious schools. Why shouldn't we afford the same opportunity to lower income kids when it's at no extra cost to the taxpayer?

Reading the liberal/progressive/leftie comments against the law in the post at Knoxnews.com shows their fervor in denying opportunity to lower income students.

I can only assume that they wish to dismantle public education and shift those responsibilities to private and religious schools. In the end, this is damning for democracy.

Damming to democracy? How? By giving lower income families more freedom?

Another leftie in response to the comment above:

Your intentions are good, however this is where we lefties go wrong. We get "SAD" over things we don't like. Maybe we go to Starbucks and reflect over a four buck latte. Instead we should get "MAD" and march to Nashville and water the shrub of liberty with the urine of tyrants or whatever it is that those Tea Potty folks do.

Yeah, it's all about the Tea Party. I wonder where all the union protesters in Madison, Wisconsin went to potty at.

Vouchers are a bad idea. If parents have to pay for something they are more likely to follow up on their investment. Vouchers allow parents who would rather spend money on a new fishing boat to send their kids to schools that other parents work hard to pay for. It waters those schools down.

Excuse me. Where is a lower income going to get the money to pay for private school? Note the negative stereotypical, bigoted view of lower income people. This person should have gone to school longer or studied harder.

In Knox County, anyone in a failing school already has the opportunity to transfer to any non-failing school that has room. Why do they need vouchers except for the public to now pay for private school education.

Obviously, a major part of the bill is to give the families a choice a of private school also. Will the public school system have room in the desired school? Do you want to send your kid to another school in a system that has failing schools? What if the school your kid is in is barely above failing?

And so it goes with the reactionary left wing continual efforts to hold down the little guy. Maybe it's because if a kid from a lower income family who gets a good education, then a good job with a good income might be less likely to vote Democrat.