# Explain to me what is wrong with school vouchers as an idea **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 21, 2017, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-what-is-wrong-with-school-vouchers-as-an-idea/784941 "2017-04-21T19:53:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Fuji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Fuji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-what-is-wrong-with-school-vouchers-as-an-idea/784941/161 "2017-04-24T14:53:14Z")
Just finished reading through this thread, and I thought this metaphor summed up my position nicely: > [@sqweels](#): > > Schools vouchers is like dismantling the Titannic to build a smaller ship for some passengers to sail away on while leaving the rest on a ship that’s sinking even faster. And I think this post sums up the selfishness, apathy, and yes - even hatred - I see continuously insinuated by those on the other side. This post just happens to be a bit more honest and direct about the loathsome views presented: > [@SamuelA](#): > > My plan for the kids who are left behind is the same plan our society has for the kids who didn’t get into Harvard or even a good state school. Our society says “fuck em”. I’m not proposing changing any of that, just making the system more desirable for families who are not the uber rich and want to help their kids more than the typical taxpayer. > > If you want to discuss a more just, socialist society, that’s a completely separate line of discussion and it should go in a different thread. This is a plan to make the current system more efficient for at least some people. The American mania for mixing capitalism, education, and religion has serious long-term effects on the society as a whole. Especially religion. I think much of the fervor for vouchers comes from religious types who, wanting to maintain “American exceptionalism” in the level of credence given to [Biblical](https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9786-why-doesnt-america-believe-in-evolution/) [idiocy](https://ncse.com/news/2011/04/polling-creationism-evolution-around-world-006634), are aware that [the future](http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2015/11/polls_americans_believe_in_evolution_less_in_creationism.html) is slipping away from them and their benighted ideals and they are fighting tooth and nail to maintain, and if possible, extend their jaw-dropping ignorance of reality. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-what-is-wrong-with-school-vouchers-as-an-idea/784941/162 "2017-04-24T15:09:51Z")
> [@Beren\_Erchamion](#): > > That’s only the case if voucher programs are _in addition_ to maintaining public schools at their current or an improved level. Which they never are. Never say never. > **[D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D.C._Opportunity_Scholarship_Program)** > > The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program provides scholarships to low-income children in Washington D.C. for tuition and other fees at participating private schools. The program was the first Federally funded school voucher program in the United States. It was first approved in 2003 and allowed to expire for the first time in 2009 under the Obama administration. The program was reauthorized under the SOAR Act in 2011, but again defunded at the end of the second Obama presidency. The program w In... ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-what-is-wrong-with-school-vouchers-as-an-idea/784941/163 "2017-04-24T15:11:40Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Vouchers are a good idea. If you could renew your car tag at a competing DMV you would. If vets had healthcare vouchers that worked at places besides the VA they’d be thrilled. Competion is important. Of course teachers unions and the Democratic Party would disagree. And that’s because it’s not about private vs public. It’s about enriching special interests. We registered a horse trailer at a privately-run NM DMV (or whatever they call it). I wonder how common that sort of system is. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-what-is-wrong-with-school-vouchers-as-an-idea/784941/164 "2017-04-24T15:17:26Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > The nonlinear scaling issue is less of a problem for larger school districts. But I wondered how common those are. Turns out the median school district only has 2-3 schools total. There are about as many rural schools as town/suburb/city schools combined. I’ll link to the [ED.gov](http://ED.gov) report when back at a computer. But the take-home is that we have a wide range of school situations and a problem or solution in one situation may not apply elsewhere. I haven’t been at a computer and direct-to-PDF links from Google get screwy on my phone, but it’s the first return when searching for: median school district size “Characteristics of Public School Districts in the United States: Results From the …” From [ED.gov](http://ED.gov) Even if some sort of alternate schooling system turns out to be wonderful, I think it’s going to be very difficult to implement in rural settings or in districts with only 1-3 schools. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-what-is-wrong-with-school-vouchers-as-an-idea/784941/165 "2017-04-24T15:27:24Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Competion is important. Of course teachers unions and the Democratic Party would disagree. And that’s because it’s not about private vs public. It’s about enriching special interests. Let’s go to the quarry and throw stuff down there!! That’s hilarious! It’s even funnier because I’m pretty sure that you really think you believe what you wrote to be an accurate description of things! ---
**Author:** ![SamuelA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@SamuelA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SamuelA)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-what-is-wrong-with-school-vouchers-as-an-idea/784941/166 "2017-04-24T15:39:38Z")
> [@Fuji](#): > > Just finished reading through this thread, and I thought this metaphor summed up my position nicely: > And I think this post sums up the selfishness, apathy, and yes - even hatred - I see continuously insinuated by those on the other side. This post just happens to be a bit more honest and direct about the loathsome views presented: That’s a good metaphor. As for the Titanic analogy - the fundamental concept here is that the reason the Titanic is sinking are causes I can’t do anything about. It’s too big, and there are too many forces on it. Things like “zero tolerance” rules, where a mistake or unintentional possession of a small knife used for sharpening pencils is enough to get a student expelled. Every school district does this, and god help you if your kid is a victim of said bullshit rules. Teachers calling the cops on elementary school kids being disobedient. The thing is, these outrages are things the publicly funded schools will just get away with. Nobody will go to jail or lose their jobs. They’ll still keep collecting your tax money every year. If they screw your kid over, and later reverse on repeal, generally you won’t collect enough in a lawsuit to punish them in any meaningful way. So no, the proposal here isn’t to flee the sinking Titanic. It’s to jump from a ship run by North Korea to one run with a more reasonable philosophy. It isn’t sinking, it is actively being run in a direction I don’t agree with and many other people don’t agree with. Our voices aren’t being heard, and clearly it’s a waste of time to attend any local PTA or school board meetings. Are the private schools actually any better? Maybe not, but the point is, some choice at least means they might be. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-what-is-wrong-with-school-vouchers-as-an-idea/784941/167 "2017-04-24T15:46:08Z")
> [@SamuelA](#): > > First, I saw the John Oliver segment. I am well aware that sloppily regulated private schools are no better than public schools and often much worse. However, that’s a failure of the state to properly regulate those schools or force them to be truthful in their > advertising and to disclose properly all relevant data. > > The voucher idea _seems_ like a good one. So do healthcare vouchers. > > Basically, here’s the problem. Take a middle class family with 2 incomes and they are not in the top 1%. Let’s suppose the local public schools are bad. As individuals, going to PTA meetings or school board meetings will accomplish fuck all. Nothing. The bad public schools will still be bad. Johnny still goes to a bad school and is being bullied or not learning at an appropriate pace. > > Voting with money has real power. If you pay $10k a year for Johnny to go to the most elite private school in the city, as soon as your check clears and a new term begins, Johnny is getting a proper education. > > The issue is, you’re paying in taxes thousands of dollars a year that you don’t have to apply to that $10k a year payment, and as a middle class family, you don’t have enough after taxes to really afford it. > > Vouchers solve that problem. The public school system is penalized for being bad, and the money they would have been given to educate Johnny goes to the private school. The middle class family only has to make up the difference, which might just be a couple thousand bucks a year. > > This argument I will just copy and paste for universal healthcare. _Exactly_ the same issue could arise if you wanted coverage for something the national plan doesn’t cover well, but you are out the taxes you pay to that plan, so after taxes, you cannot afford an elite private plan. So you _should_ be able to apply a voucher for the amount the national plan would have spent covering you, such that you only need to pay the difference. > > What is wrong with this idea? I fully agree that we need to provide students alternatives to their local school, particularly at the middle and high school level. It is not an answer to tell kids who are about to enter gang riddled local high schools that they ought to be patient while the folks who couldn’t solve the fucking problem over the last 30 years spend the next 30 years trying to solve the problem. The concern really ought to be the kids and not some institution or interest group. Does school choice benefit kids or does it harm them? Done correctly it almost certainly benefits kids. IF done correctly. The problem is that the folks most likely to do it correctly are in the pockets of a teacher’s union that is more interested in their members than the mission. But a voucher system is much harder to do correctly than almost any other viable alternative out there. The main problem with a voucher system is that it offers almost nothing that a charter school system doesn’t provide and it provides an vehicle for gutting the public school system in a way that charter schools do not. The DC “voucher program” is really a federally funded need based scholarship program. I cannot think of any other type of “voucher program” that has had decidedly positive results, if you can point to one, I would like to see it. The ones that do not inject new money to fund the vouchers almost invariably end up subsidizing local parochial schools for middle class families or subsidizing rich families sending their kids to fancier private school… all at the expense of the broader public school system. This isn’t school choice, its rent seeking. I think it is much harder to structure a good voucher system than a good charter school system. Perhaps it would be useful if you told us exactly how you think a voucher system would work. Because the devil really is in the details. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-what-is-wrong-with-school-vouchers-as-an-idea/784941/168 "2017-04-24T15:49:53Z")
> [@SamuelA](#): > > So no, the proposal here isn’t to flee the sinking Titanic. It’s to jump from a ship run by North Korea to one run with a more reasonable philosophy. It isn’t sinking, it is actively being run in a direction I don’t agree with and many other people don’t agree with. Our voices aren’t being heard, and \*\*clearly it’s a waste of time to attend any local PTA or school board meetings. \*\* Bullshit. I’ll bet you haven’t even _tried_. It’s a lot easier to bitch about things than to actually get off your ass and actually show up at meeting and let your voice be heard. It’s even harder to volunteer to do the stuff the PTA tries to do but fails because of lack of support. If you aren’t part of the solution…you are part of the precipitate. ---
**Author:** ![SamuelA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@SamuelA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SamuelA)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-what-is-wrong-with-school-vouchers-as-an-idea/784941/169 "2017-04-24T15:58:27Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Bullshit. I’ll bet you haven’t even _tried_. It’s a lot easier to bitch about things than to actually get off your ass and actually show up at meeting and let your voice be heard. It’s even harder to volunteer to do the stuff the PTA tries to do but fails because of lack of support. If you aren’t part of the solution…you are part of the precipitate. You’re not going to be able to go to an ordinary PTA meeting and convince a school board or teachers that _some_ tolerance for weapons or drugs should be allowed. Think about how the idea even sounds. It’s politically incorrect. Never mind that when you say that, what you _mean_ is “ordinary tools a kid might have that could theoretically be used as a weapon but aren’t and the kid has a good explanation, and medicine or some random OTC pill that fell in the bottom of their backpack”. You’ll be shouted down and the very idea you said this used to paint you with the brush that you think weapons and drugs should be in the hands of kids. Ditto any other idea that is “politically incorrect”. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-what-is-wrong-with-school-vouchers-as-an-idea/784941/170 "2017-04-24T16:01:27Z")
> [@SamuelA](#): > > That’s a good metaphor. As for the Titanic analogy - the fundamental concept here is that the reason the Titanic is sinking are causes I can’t do anything about. It’s too big, and there are too many forces on it. Things like “zero tolerance” rules, where a mistake or unintentional possession of a small knife used for sharpening pencils is enough to get a student expelled. Every school district does this, and god help you if your kid is a victim of said bullshit rules. Teachers calling the cops on elementary school kids being disobedient. > > The thing is, these outrages are things the publicly funded schools will just get away with. Nobody will go to jail or lose their jobs. They’ll still keep collecting your tax money every year. If they screw your kid over, and later reverse on repeal, generally you won’t collect enough in a lawsuit to punish them in any meaningful way. > > So no, the proposal here isn’t to flee the sinking Titanic. It’s to jump from a ship run by North Korea to one run with a more reasonable philosophy. It isn’t sinking, it is actively being run in a direction I don’t agree with and many other people don’t agree with. Our voices aren’t being heard, and clearly it’s a waste of time to attend any local PTA or school board meetings. > > Are the private schools actually any better? Maybe not, but the point is, some choice at least means they might be. You don’t need vouchers for choice [Charter schools in the United States - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_schools_in_the_United_States) ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-what-is-wrong-with-school-vouchers-as-an-idea/784941/171 "2017-04-24T16:08:36Z")
> [@SamuelA](#): > > You’re not going to be able to go to an ordinary PTA meeting and convince a school board or teachers that _some_ tolerance for weapons or drugs should be allowed. Think about how the idea even sounds. It’s politically incorrect. What do you mean by tolerance? Giving schools discretion often leads to uneven application of that discretion. It provide an avenue for biases and prejudices to seep into the system. I agree that expulsion for every offense is a bad idea but you can codify a sliding scale just like we do with first degree murder, manslaughter and negligent homicide. > [@](#): > > Never mind that when you say that, what you _mean_ is “ordinary tools a kid might have that could theoretically be used as a weapon but aren’t and the kid has a good explanation, and medicine or some random OTC pill that fell in the bottom of their backpack”. > > You’ll be shouted down and the very idea you said this used to paint you with the brush that you think weapons and drugs should be in the hands of kids. > > Ditto any other idea that is “politically incorrect”. I’m sure crazy shit happens all the time (like when they suspend kids for eating their PB&J into the shape of a gun) but if THIS is your rationale for having school choice then its a bad one because political correctness is likely to be just as rampant at private and charter schools as at public schools. Are you under the impression that private and charter schools are going to be more lax on weapons and drugs? ---
**Author:** ![SamuelA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@SamuelA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SamuelA)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-what-is-wrong-with-school-vouchers-as-an-idea/784941/172 "2017-04-24T16:23:00Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > What do you mean by tolerance? Giving schools discretion often leads to uneven application of that discretion. It provide an avenue for biases and prejudices to seep into the system. > > Are you under the impression that private and charter schools are going to be more lax on weapons and drugs? You can at least choose the least bad option. That’s the whole idea. None of us advocating for private or charter schools are under the impression that they will be perfect, simply that competition means that : a. parents can choose the least bad option b. Administrators of the public option are on notice. They don’t get to sit back and do a shitty job with no possible recourse. ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-what-is-wrong-with-school-vouchers-as-an-idea/784941/173 "2017-04-24T16:29:52Z")
> [@SamuelA](#): > > You’re not going to be able to go to an ordinary PTA meeting and convince a school board or teachers that _some_ tolerance for weapons or drugs should be allowed. Think about how the idea even sounds. It’s politically incorrect. > > Never mind that when you say that, what you _mean_ is “ordinary tools a kid might have that could theoretically be used as a weapon but aren’t and the kid has a good explanation, and medicine or some random OTC pill that fell in the bottom of their backpack”. > > You’ll be shouted down and the very idea you said this used to paint you with the brush that you think weapons and drugs should be in the hands of kids. > > Ditto any other idea that is “politically incorrect”. Here’s an [example of a school](http://www.koaa.com/story/33850505/pueblo-school-policy-sparks-outrage-after-disabled-student-denied-hemp-oil-at-school) where a parent had an issue with the school’s medication policy (hemp oil for a student with a seizure disorder); the parent complained, the news media got involved, and the school district changed their policy. [Here’s another example](http://www.today.com/id/33289924/ns/today-today_news/t/boy-suspended-over-utensil-gets-reprieve/#.WP4jxWe1v3g), where the school board “made a hasty change to its code of conduct” after they concluded school officials didn’t use good common sense in handling a kindergarten student who brought a Swiss Army style knife to school. According to you, these couldn’t have happened, but in this reality they did. EVERY school has some medication policy; in most places, it’s a formal written document, available upon request to any parent or concerned citizen. You don’t get up and say, “oh, I want the school to tolerate drugs”; you say, “I want to revise paragraph 6 of the medication policy to read this way” (or the weapons policy, or whatever other policy is an issue). If you get enough other taxpayers and school officials to agree, the policy gets changed. (Oh, and private schools, especially those accepting any taxpayer money [like vouchers] are likewise subject to zero-tolerance policies.) ---
**Author:** ![Fuji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Fuji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-what-is-wrong-with-school-vouchers-as-an-idea/784941/174 "2017-04-24T17:40:11Z")
> [@SamuelA](#): > > That’s a good metaphor. As for the Titanic analogy - the fundamental concept here is that the reason the Titanic is sinking are causes I can’t do anything about. And with that attitude, nothing will ever change. In my estimation, a first step in reforming US education would be to completely scrap the way it is currently (largely) funded: through local property taxes. What a stupid, short-sighted way to fund an essential service. Of course, the end result is virtual ghettoization and ever-widening social inequality. (A further pernicious aspect of this funding regime is that one never really has _de facto_ ownership of their own homes.) ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-what-is-wrong-with-school-vouchers-as-an-idea/784941/175 "2017-04-24T17:48:26Z")
Ok so we have school vouchers so the private schools siphon off all of my A and B students that have plans for college after high school and so are motivated to do their best. What happens to those left behand? a) Lower the standards so a C is the new A and the public can complain how our standards have gone down even more OR b) Keep grades the same with a few As and Bs but mostly Cs, Ds and Fs so the public can complain how we are failing kids ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-what-is-wrong-with-school-vouchers-as-an-idea/784941/176 "2017-04-24T18:08:27Z")
> [@SamuelA](#): > > You can at least choose the least bad option. That’s the whole idea. None of us advocating for private or charter schools are under the impression that they will be perfect, simply that competition means that : > > a. parents can choose the least bad option > b. Administrators of the public option are on notice. They don’t get to sit back and do a shitty job with no possible recourse. Your second point up there is bullshit. It’s just pure, ignorant bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-what-is-wrong-with-school-vouchers-as-an-idea/784941/177 "2017-04-24T18:52:39Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Your second point up there is bullshit. It’s just pure, ignorant bullshit. Yeah it shows he has no clue what actually happens at public schools if he thinks that has any relationship to reality. ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-what-is-wrong-with-school-vouchers-as-an-idea/784941/178 "2017-04-24T18:54:50Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Your second point up there is bullshit. It’s just pure, ignorant bullshit. No, it’s a kind of bigotry, born of the notion that since public school administrators are paid out of taxpayer money, then they MUST be in it only for the paycheck, because “real” employees work in private enterprise. If you work in the public sector, you’re just a leech, sucking on the public tit and taking money from people who do the “real” work of America. In this mindset, there can be no other explanation for failures. Public schools are not bad because they are underfunded, or overworked with the job of righting all societal wrongs, or grappling with unmotivated or behaviorally challenged students, or any of the other problems actually facing American schools; they are bad because public employees are useless incompetents wastes of oxygen. When you start from false premises, then all conclusions you draw are likewise false, and this is the underlying basic premise that is so very very wrong. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-what-is-wrong-with-school-vouchers-as-an-idea/784941/179 "2017-04-24T19:14:34Z")
> [@Fuji](#): > > And with that attitude, nothing will ever change. > > In my estimation, a first step in reforming US education would be to completely scrap the way it is currently (largely) funded: through local property taxes. What a stupid, short-sighted way to fund an essential service. Of course, the end result is virtual ghettoization and ever-widening social inequality. (A further pernicious aspect of this funding regime is that one never really has _de facto_ ownership of their own homes.) I don’t particularly like the idea of property taxes being the primary source of funding for government services of any kind - but I’m not sure that the problems of social inequality and ghettoization would be solved if school districts levied income taxes or sales taxes rather than property taxes. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Fuji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Fuji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-what-is-wrong-with-school-vouchers-as-an-idea/784941/180 "2017-04-24T19:36:43Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I don’t particularly like the idea of property taxes being the primary source of funding for government services of any kind - but I’m not sure that the problems of social inequality and ghettoization would be solved if school districts levied income taxes or sales taxes rather than property taxes. > Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk How about collecting the revenue (from income and/or sales taxes) on a state-wide basis, and then re-distributing it back to the various school districts, such that every student will be assigned the same amount of funding, on a per-capita basis, no matter where they live? I’m aware that because of the US constitution, it would be unfeasible to do this on a federal basis, but here in the relatively tiny Republic of Ireland, for example, this is how it is done. It’s my understanding that this is done in a similar fashion through much of Europe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-what-is-wrong-with-school-vouchers-as-an-idea/784941.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-what-is-wrong-with-school-vouchers-as-an-idea/784941.md?page=10)