In his Jan. 27 letter, “Need for vouchers,” Don Dodson says he can’t understand why Democrats oppose President Bush’s voucher proposal. He questions why they are more interested in keeping the teachers lobby happy than assuring all students’ success.
As a teacher and proud member of the National Education Association, I can tell Mr. Dodson that those of us who oppose vouchers do so because we understand how grossly unfair they are to the students who are left behind in the underperforming schools.
Unfortunately many factors in public schools’ performance are beyond our control: We cannot mandate motivation and we cannot guarantee a supportive family for every child. Things we can and should do, however, include repairing crumbling buildings, ensuring adequate books and supplies, investing in early childhood education, recruiting and retaining quality teachers, and reducing class size. Stripping public schools of funding and paying families to put their children in private schools is not the answer. It’s as self-defeating as Sears paying its customers to shop at J.C. Penney instead of improving its own stores.
Let’s strengthen our public schools so that, instead of helping only children whose parents are savvy enough to take advantage of vouchers, we truly leave no child behind.
