As a lifelong Wisconsin resident, I would like to add my 2 cents to the debate on using public money to pay for private school education. I am all for it, but only if the private and parochial schools obey these rules:
– All non-public schools have to use state-certified teachers. Many now use unsupervised student teachers and other non-certified teachers. They can pay these people much less, and quality suffers.
– All students must be accepted regardless of race, color, criminal record and, especially, religious affiliation. None may be turned away, no matter what his or her background. Disabled students must be accommodated.
– To maintain the wall of separation, no student shall be coerced in any way to participate in religious activities. One of the “legs” the Supreme Court of Wisconsin used to justify this decision was that this be a “secular purpose.” If investigation proves that a student has been harassed or coerced in any way about religion, that school will lose public funding.
– Non-public schools will be subject to audits at any time.
My point is that exclusion is what makes private education seem to be superior to public education. The private schools are safer, the students more motivated, the parents more attentive, because they are private, because they exclude. The public schools now are where all the less-desirable students end up because they are the schools of default. Public money should not be used to set up a system of schools that exclude.
