Reply #32: Take away the public schools...

[Irreverend IX]

And the only class inner city kids will be taking is Independent Study: Applied Methods of Crack Cocaine Distribution.

I can't believe what I'm reading. What do you propose be instituted in place of public schools? You do realize that PS is, for a great many people, their only shot at an education? I was educated in the public school system, and while it wasn't perfect, I think the teachers and admins did a damn good job with the resources they had.

If PS will produce Bush voters, how many more will be produced when private Christian prep schools are the only game in town? And then you complain about high dropout rates in the inner city? If there was no free public education, how many urban kids do you think would ever see the inside of a classroom? Inner city schools may be flawed, but if you take them away you'll take millions of kids' only hope at a job that doesn't pay under a table. Do you think a 30% graduation rate is preferable to nothing?

The loss of public education would destroy the progressive movement beyond what any Supreme Court justice could ever hope to do. American society would be divided into the prep-schooled .5% and a huge serf class forever after.