Privatization Welfare for Religious and Private Virtual Schools

Posted by in Uncategorized Apr 20th, 2004

From the Palm Beach Post …

TALLAHASSEE — Private and religious Internet-based schools could be paid for with tax dollars under a plan being pushed by voucher-opponent Sen. Debbie Wasserman Schultz at the request of her children's private school.

Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat who lives in Weston, has opposed spending tax dollars at private schools through voucher programs in the past, and has been a vocal supporter this session of increasing financial and academic accountability in the programs. She served on a McKay voucher task force that made recommendations on tightening oversight of private schools taking vouchers and has fought to have those private schools be accredited.

But she said her plan — which would allow private Internet-based schools to take public money by franchising with the public Florida Virtual School — differs from the state's three current voucher programs because it requires some academic and fiscal accountability.Maybe Wasserman Schultz has some points here for combining the public Florida Virtual Schools with private Internet-based schools, and at least it isn't direct funding of private and religious education companies, but I still think this is a slippery slope that will only lead to the further privatization of the public school system. Academic and fiscal accountability is certainly an important issues, but the larger issue is actually ideology.

Now if these people would find some money for U.S. public schools instead of trying to siphon off tax dollars to private and religious schools, our public education system could take a leap into the online learning revolution. Most of the people who support these types of vouchers are the same ones who talk about getting rid of state subsidies in other places and are intent on breaking the backs of the teachers unions so they won't have to deal with them. They say they want to 'privatize' everything, but then turn around and fund religious and private schools, which is just a different form of welfare than the ones they harp against.

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