Reply #35: let me put it to you this way.

[ulysses]

I teach special ed in an urban middle school in Atlanta. Most of our kids come from very poor homes - 97% get free or reduced price meals.

Before I came into the public schools, I taught and subbed in quite a few private schools in the Atlanta area, from pricey schools in old former mansions to start-ups in 100-year-old wood frame houses well outside of town.

Are there kids in Atlanta who can't afford private schools now but who might be able to with vouchers? Sure. Will any of *my* kids be able to? Of the 40 kids I see throughout the day, one or two might be able to. The others are still stuck in a school that now has even *fewer* resources with which to educate them because of the dollars going to vouchers.

And the kids who could miraculously afford private schools with vouchers? They aren't going to the mansions, although those are the good schools. They're going to the start-up out in Lawrenceville where a good chunk of each day is given over to prayer and no one has the first goddamned clue about how to teach special needs kids.

Yeah. Fantastic fucking idea.