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We agree that more must be done to help struggling schools. No child in America should have to go to a school where the roof leaks or there aren't enough textbooks to go around. But silver-bullet schemes like vouchers are not the answer.
Despite being sold as offering "choice," vouchers only guarantee that some parents will have some taxpayer money to put toward some children's private or parochial school tuition. No voucher system covers total tuition costs. No voucher system guarantees that every child who applies will be selected to attend the private school.
In fact, religious schools currently reject two of every three children who apply. Just about the only thing that vouchers guarantee is that taxes will go up. Not only will taxpayers be forced to foot the bill for the vouchers themselves, but they'll have to pick up the tab for a whole new bureaucracy including hidden costs like transportation.
In short, vouchers will force taxpayers to support two entire education systems -- public and private. To make things worse, no extra money will be funneled to those schools that desperately need taxpayer support.
The nation's public schools are the backbone of our democratic system, weaving our diverse society into a nation and helping young people grow into responsible citizens. Pseudo reforms like vouchers that only "help" a few kids at the expense of many lead us away from the serious solutions that will help guarantee every child in the nation a quality education.
The NEA will continue to work as hard as we can -- with parents and communities -- to bring all our schools up to the level of America's best public schools.
Posted December 2, 1996