New Court Case Brewing

[donpablo]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/maine-debate-public-funding-private-042405617.html

This is what I worry over when we start talking school vouchers but I have to admit I see positives & negatives on both sides.

In this case I see the point of the government (if you don't want to follow the rules, don't ask for the $) but I also understand the reality that by default, people with traditional religious beliefs are being persecuted. I wonder if there would be any possibility of success if someone argued that the public school's promotion of the idea that there are more than 2 genders violates the nondiscrimination law as it infringes on their religious liberty?

[tvc184]

The devil is always in the details.

[tvc184]

I don’t have any kids and maybe I don’t understand school funding by the state but here goes….

Public school districts, obviously Tax locally, but the state also sends in money to each district. I believe that money is based on the number of students or in effect, a certain amount of dollars per student. Maybe the district gets $6,000 per student from the state. So if a small district has 100 students, the state gives them $600,000.

The state has therefore deemed that each student in the state is worth $6,000 going to education. If 100 students leave one school district and transfer to another, that $600,000 follows the students to the new district where they move.

Therefore, since the state has mandated that they will pay for each student in the state at $6,000 per student, does it matter which school gets the exact same money?

Obviously, the school district doesn’t want to lose the money but students transfer every year. As far as educating children and the parents have a choice of where to move to or where to send their children, does it matter if the $6,000 per student mandated by the state goes to public school districts A, B, C or private school D?

[WItoTX]

TVC, not sure if your scenario is true. However, in Texas, schools also have to pass education standards (Star Test). That also affects funding. And incentivizes schools to pass students regardless of actual education. HISD here in Houston is a prime example. Which I believe just got taken oven by the state due to what they were doing.

I suspect what you are saying is partially true, however, it's done retroactively. So funding for 2026 would be based on 2025 or earlier student population. On top of that, if a school is underperforming, and students decide to leave, is the answer to give that school less money? There are a certain number of fixed costs that happen regardless of having 20 kids in a class, or 10 kids. So....now schools which have less kids also have to figure out how to pay the bills with half the money coming in. It's a vicious circle that spirals out of control. Now with less kids in school, the school has to pay teachers less, which means good teachers go to another school, and parents who have the money to, move to better school districts.

Failing public schools need to be addressed district by district, and school by school to root out the cause, and address it. Creating a voucher program just band-aids the problem, but doesn't fixes it, except for those who get the voucher.

The biggest positive of the voucher system is (ideally) we all get to pick where our kids go to school. and that individual choice is central to everything we do in America, and for that, I support it.