As for school vouchers for alternative schools–why not?
Vouchers help give involved parents and kids a choice.
It tells public schools to shape up or we’ll ship you out.
We’ll make a choice and you might not be IT. 
Those parents receiving vouchers, pay taxes too. So they’re actually paying for the vouchers. If their public, tax supported, school is so bad that the kid can’t get a decent education, why should that taxpaying parent pay for a lousey education?
Kansas City schools were so bad they couldn’t even get accredited anymore. Why should parents pay taxes for sending their kids into that kind of environment.
Yes, admittedly education has to involve the school, the teacher, the community, the parent and the student. Alternative schools do a better job of this. Whether it is because parents and teachers are more dedicated or have more opportunity, it should be a choice for everyone. Education is a great privalege that should not be taken for granted. But if we fail our nation’s youth, we are choosing our own bleek destiny.
It’s a choice between ignorance and a better society through better education.
Vouchers can equalize opportunity.
We need to create alternatives to improve the quality of education, and the voucher system is one way of doing that by putting tax dollars where the taxpayers want the money to be, instead of where the politicians decide they’ll spend it! 
Why not just get rid of school “zones” and let people choose which public school to send their kids to?
I hit submit before finishing my thought…anyhow, wouldn’t this foster competition among public schools and as a result force the less “popular” schools to shape up or lose students? The competition for students would also cause administrators to become more creative in their offerings, and school choice would truly mean something.
The public school system as it stands now is abysmal. We found out recently that my son, who is going into the 8th grade, did not know Lincoln was assassinated.
I live in Florida, where there is a grading system for public schools. If a school gets an “F” twice in the last two years the children qualify for vouchers. What about the students in C or D schools? What remedy is available to them?
I heard of an all girls school in Harlem, with mostly minority students, and the girls are thriving. Test scores are up, everyone from the school administrators to the girls are thrilled. Yet the teacher’s union has been trying to shut this school down since it opened. Why? Could it be the teacher’s union and the NEA is more interested in power than educating students? We’ve been throwing money at the problem for years and things have gotten worse. Something MUST change.
Why not just get rid of school “zones” and let people choose which public school to send their kids to?
I teach in a huge district. I think we have 18 high schools and around 30 middle schools. Students have many choices regarding which high school they want to attend. We have several ways to allow transfers out of the zoned school and into the school of choice. One is called “m to m”, minority to majority. Another way is to choose a “magnet program”. Almost every school has a magnet program. The students that belong to a particular magnet program are required to take specific classes and maintain a certain average. We have technology magnets, math and science magnets, fine arts magnet, etc. Students apply for a magnet program. They must have the required gpa, recommendations, test scores, and the paper work must be submitted on time.
Here are my observations: Good schools get better. Schools that perform poorly, rarely improve and in fact, they get worse. The schools that perform poorly lose the most capable and motivated students. This has a huge impact on school climate. Teachers choose to teach in the more successful schools. Many “master-teacher types” find ways to get into higher performing schools leaving many of the weaker teachers to deal with students that are less motivated and have less parent support.
This results in a downward spiral. Administrators in these successful schools court affluent parents, businesses, corporations and are able to get considerable amounts of funding that they use on worthwhile projects as well as cosmetic, superficial, jazzed up stuff that assists them in recruiting elite students. This is just great for these parents and students but nothing gets done about the issues that cause schools to perform poorly: 1)Lack of quality instruction, 2)Class size, 3)Lack of parent support, 4)Low expectations, 5)Lack of necessary resources to deal with students that have unmet emotional needs and tremendous adversity.
BTW - I am a card-carrying member of the teacher union.