Bush call for Grants to Finance Private Schooling

[flashl]

Grants Would Finance Private Schooling

WASHINGTON — President Bush’s call for a $300 million program called Pell Grants for Kids is the latest effort by his administration to channel tax dollars to low-income parents to help them send their children to private or religious schools.

His proposal, in his State of the Union address Monday night, was denounced by some top Democratic lawmakers and teachers’ union officials as a national “voucher” program that would only drain resources from urban public schools that in many cases are in need of money.

And some critics said that the president’s call for yet another education initiative only underscored the failure of the No Child Left Behind Act, the federal law that Mr. Bush considers a landmark achievement of his first term.

In naming his proposed program after a federal scholarship program for college students, Mr. Bush sided with advocates for school choice who say low-income parents should be able to send their children to private schools.

The new program would be modeled after a much smaller federally financed “scholarship” initiative in Washington that Mr. Bush championed in 2003, which has provided more than $14 million a year for low-income children to attend private and religious schools.

NY Times

I guess his backers think that public schools still have a pulse.

[jody]

1. How many private K-12 schools have proved effective for low-income families? n/t

[flashl]

2. Its difficult to assess, local education authorities

determines private schools reporting requirements. A year ago, when trying to answer that question, acquiring that information was difficult.

[jody]

3. My WAG is private schools in general will do no better than the vaunted charter schools that I

believe have not done any better than public schools.

Am I wrong about charter schools?

[flashl]

4. No. nt

[sinkingfeeling]

5. Can't give the kids health insurance, but wants to 'privatize' education on the taxpayers' buck.

[MichiganVote]

6. Want a christian education for your kids? Pay for it yourself.

[Peace Teacher]

7. I can guarantee you that public schools have a pulse and are doing good every day!

[mac2]

8. My thoughts exactly

[flashl]

9. Not in the second America ...

Georgia students ponder future as schools court disaster

[madeline_con]

10. At what point does the state step in and take over?

Edit: typos in the Education Forum. :eyes:

Or do they? what about a class action suit to demand the students' right to a FAPE?

[CRK7376]

11. Not all of them

Our two younger children are headed into a high school that has not met NCLB State standards for the past two years and barely squeaked by the year before that. And we can't get our child transfered to the new HS 3.5 miles from our house. We are in the wrong district, and just because our eldest graduated from the new school, the other two can't get in there. Eldest transfered from the failing HS for his Jr/Sr year, to the new one and loved it....Too bad so sad for us and all the other families trying to get our kids in the new school. It was built too small for capacity that first year and only got worse. Now they are over their size limit by 300+ kids....NCLB SUCKS!