School Vouchers

When I first heard about the idea of school vouchers, I was all for it. Then I thought about it some more, and decided that the gov't would use the existence of vouchers as another mechanism to encroach the first amendment. Loathe though I am to say it, Hilary Clinton summarizes that fear quite well in this video:



Still, I think I'm going to have to come down on the side of being for it. I think that there's something wrong with the approach of viewing migratory deregulation as a danger source for the further erosion of rights. The fact is, our rights are being eroded all around us. I think we're better served by advocating controversial acts of deregulation despite the fact that they open new ground for worrying if for no other reason than that we can give the subject of rights the spotlight. Yes, school vouchers does raise first amendment issues--we need to keep rights in the forefront of the American consciousness as much as possible. Our answer to Hilary's question: "Who decides who gets the money?" is "no one." As a first step toward privatizing the educational system in this country, we should offer school vouchers for parents to send their children to any school they want.