Where Are We Going?

Is it just me, or are others growing increasingly frustrated with our Arizona Governor Doug Ducey. The latest in a series of bait and switch came out with him signing the bill allowing vouchers for education.

Last year, he was all for Prop 123 and selling it as a way to help increase funding for the public schools. Went as far as to help do TV ads for getting voters to support. Other Props have all come with the help of getting public funding for education.

Education is a hot topic for many people. Why wouldn’t it be. It is about educating our children!

The state legislators have pushed an agenda for school choice for many years… Right about the time that they started cutting funding to public education early 1990’s. So much have the cut that AZ ranks dead last in funding per student. Yet the students are not dead last in performance (not great, but average). None of us are happy about either the pay or performance.

When you look at Gov. Ducey and Prop 123 – he was offering a potential solution to potentially get back some of the funding that should have gone to schools. It looked like a life line for education. Sold that way. Many people warned of the issues that this did not address. But it passed, because education is important.

With the newly added vouchers to the mix. School choice is being the primary focus. Parents should have a choice where their children go to school. Issue is they have that choice today. Public schools and charter schools are pretty much open to all! Pretty much, but some schools don’t have the services for some children.

What the voucher system does is open up private and religious schools to the mix! Since you are paying your property taxes and some of that funding goes to the public education. You can now apply for a voucher… Helping to fund school choice.

That all sounds well and good. Here are some problems that I see:

• Does the dollar amount of the school voucher going to cover the complete cost? I bet not! A life line to parents that will come up a bit short for most. Those that are already in private and religious schools can thank Gov Ducey and the GOP heavy Az legislator for reducing their tuition. Ask yourself – where are their children going to school or where did they go to school? Hum, is this really helping families? Or themselves?
  • Is this so called voucher system going to be based on your yearly income? Nope.
• Since public schools have governmental controls on them for standards…. Will Charter schools, private schools and religious schools all have the same criteria to follow? Since they get public funds now – one would think so. I really doubt that is going to happen.
• Education is going to the way of the prison system. Moving to for profit! Is that really the way we want this to go? We are hearing more than enough issues about for profit prison! So, let’s expand that to education.

Paying your property tax is supposed to be a help for your community to keep the value of the community up! I don’t have kids in school any longer. Do I get a no kids voucher relief from my property tax? No! And I should not… So, why are we adding a voucher system again? Yeah right, school choice. You have that choice today!

Bait and switch… Here is your life line – just watch out, it is not attached to anything.