Reader Comments on School Vouchers Issue
MARCO O: It does not not matter what the law or the first amendment state. what matters the most is how our society destroying all the hopes for the future generation. As a parent of a 5 year old, I believe that my daughter deserve a very strict and guided environment. She goes to a catholic school in Ohio, I 'm very happy with the school and you can tell the difference between public and private. Your very ignorant if you say there are no difference. It is my choice to pay for the tuition fee but also I pay my land tax and income tax I think it's just right for the public school to compensate some of the tuition fee. I'm already working two jobs just to give the best education for my 5 year old. I believed that educating young mind properly is the key to their success. --------------------------------------------------------------- JEANETTE P: Just a few (admittedly long) thoughts against Reason 4 supporting vouchers: Everyone, regardless of whether they have children, pays for public schools. Thus, the argument of parents paying twice to send their kids to a private school holds less water. The argument for vouchers assumes --correctly in my view-- that one's current taxes go to current schooling (that is, your parents' taxes are what covered your own public school "tuition"). But the problem with argument number four for vouchers is that it also assumes that parents should only pay for public education if they receive a direct, current benefit from it (i.e., that they have children using the public school system). Contrast this view with real-life statistics: about 20% of women will never have children, and therefore about 20% of women are paying taxes on a service they will never use. Also, a person with multiple children pays the same for public school as a person with only one child. The use of the service and paying taxes on the service are clearly not related. Otherwise, the person with more children would pay more in taxes for public schooling. Thus, if private-school parents are allowed to avoid the so-called "double tax", they in effect *evade* a responsibility shouldered by everyone else, including the childless. This runs counter to the principles of tax neutrality (i.e., that taxes --as much as possible-- should not shape people's behavior), and a progressive tax system (i.e., that wealthier individuals should pay more than poorer individuals... assuming that users of the private school system tend to be wealthier than users of the public school system, elimination of the "double tax" would effectively result in a *regressive* tax against everyone not using private schools).