Is Trump's proposed school voucher program only for families below poverty line?

[Anonymous]

It's going to be fun to see what happens when Muslim families try to use their vouchers for Islamic schools.

[Anonymous]

Privates will just offer less financial aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's going to be fun to see what happens when Muslim families try to use their vouchers for Islamic schools.

This, exactly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Privates will just offer less financial aid.

I'm in the board of a parochial and we'd never do that. If anything, vouchers would allow us to spread financial aid across more families. Of the top of my head we only have at most 10 families near the poverty line. 10 x $12k = $120k windfall to annual financial aid budget.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of cheap tiny Christian private schools around the country. This will be a huge windfall for them.

I went to one of these. I learned nothing. I did really well on the SAT and got into a great college (because between the good SAT and my 4.0 at the christian school) I looked like a great applicant.
College was a rude awakening because I was starting from scratch in chemistry, math, biology, etc. I struggled and floundered.

I now send my kids to public school and would never, ever, ever send my kids to a christian school (although I am a pretty devout christian).
We're considering a secular or mainstream religious (Quaker, Episcopal) private high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep reading "$12,000 in school choice funds to every K-12 student who today lives in poverty."

So only families making less than $25,000 per year will get this, or will it be tiered like other voucher programs? As in, families making $45,000 might get a $7,000 voucher and so forth.

Before everyone gets excited about their middle class free stuff, let me point out that there are 16 million children living below the poverty line. To give them all $12,000 a year would be 192 billion per year. You would have to quadruple the Department of Education budget to do that. Really unlikely to happen. More unlikely that it will reach people making your level of income.

But if 16 million kids were no longer going to public schools think of all the money you would save there. Average spending per pupil is $10,700 nationwide. In DC the spending per pupil is highest in the nation at over $25,000 per kid. I'm assuming that any comprehensive voucher plan would redirect the money sent to public schools to fund these vouchers.

[Anonymous]

I don't want my tax money to be used to teach religion. I'd rather spend more and have more kids in public schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of cheap tiny Christian private schools around the country. This will be a huge windfall for them.

That has always been the point of the school choice movement. I remember it all the way back in the late 70s. People wanted to get public money to pay for Catholic school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I strenuously object to my taxpayer dollars going to religious institutions.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep reading "$12,000 in school choice funds to every K-12 student who today lives in poverty."

So only families making less than $25,000 per year will get this, or will it be tiered like other voucher programs? As in, families making $45,000 might get a $7,000 voucher and so forth.

Before everyone gets excited about their middle class free stuff, let me point out that there are 16 million children living below the poverty line. To give them all $12,000 a year would be 192 billion per year. You would have to quadruple the Department of Education budget to do that. Really unlikely to happen. More unlikely that it will reach people making your level of income.

But if 16 million kids were no longer going to public schools think of all the money you would save there. Average spending per pupil is $10,700 nationwide. In DC the spending per pupil is highest in the nation at over $25,000 per kid. I'm assuming that any comprehensive voucher plan would redirect the money sent to public schools to fund these vouchers.

So the federal government takes the money from state and local budgets? And then the localities get left with the kids whose educational costs are higher than the 12,000 per year voucher covers, like special ed, ESOL, etc. Fabulous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you make $45,000 and get a $7,000 voucher, what good does it do?

Say your kid is at $13,000/year parochial, a family in that income range would probably be asked to contribute $4,000-6,500 per year after parish/school aid. So, a voucher would make the parochial free for those working-middle class families.

Oh so taking not only from the government but also from a parish. got it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What will happen, if this ever comes into existence (which is doubtful) is what happened with DC's GOP-forced voucher program. A handful of very talented poor children will be able to use the scholarship to get into existing schools, where the schools will be able to give them financial aid to make up the difference.

At the same time, dozens of "schools" will open, that happen to charge the same amount or slightly higher in tuition as the cost of the voucher. There is no accredation process in DC for these schools, and many of them have 90-100% of their students on vouchers. Making them essentially public schools with no oversight. It's a travesty...school vouchers do not work- studies have proven this.

They are the same as housing vouchers. Any landlord who magically accepts vouchers, sets the rent at the highest level of the voucher range even though the landlord could not get that higher amount if it were market rate housing. Don't tell anyone though, because I've made a lot of money doing this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you make $45,000 and get a $7,000 voucher, what good does it do?

Say your kid is at $13,000/year parochial, a family in that income range would probably be asked to contribute $4,000-6,500 per year after parish/school aid. So, a voucher would make the parochial free for those working-middle class families.

Oh so taking not only from the government but also from a parish. got it

Good PP. If you don't like the sound of it be sure to call your senators and rep's and leet them know you're against Trump's Secy of Ed appt. you conservatives need to stand up against the parts of Trump's agenda you disagree with. This is America afterall. You can disagree with the leader.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you make $45,000 and get a $7,000 voucher, what good does it do?

Not every private school is $30,000 a year you know.

The voucher may not pay 100%, but it will bring tuition within reach for many families - particularly people of color.

Just the ones that are not subsidized by some other entity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you make $45,000 and get a $7,000 voucher, what good does it do?

Say your kid is at $13,000/year parochial, a family in that income range would probably be asked to contribute $4,000-6,500 per year after parish/school aid. So, a voucher would make the parochial free for those working-middle class families.

Oh so taking not only from the government but also from a parish. got it

Good PP. If you don't like the sound of it be sure to call your senators and rep's and leet them know you're against Trump's Secy of Ed appt. you conservatives need to stand up against the parts of Trump's agenda you disagree with. This is America afterall. You can disagree with the leader.

Went to a parochial school and am well educated, so I do understand how a republic works. Just strange that a government would subsidize a kid in a parochial school rather than try to correct the problems in the more expensive to operate public schools.