Comments on: Mixed results for D.C. voucher students http://www.joannejacobs.com/2008/06/mixed-results-for-dc-voucher-students/ Thinking and Linking by Joanne Jacobs Fri, 10 Feb 2012 04:51:22 +0000 hourly 1 By: Cardinal Fang http://www.joannejacobs.com/2008/06/mixed-results-for-dc-voucher-students/#comment-37099 Cardinal Fang Wed, 18 Jun 2008 23:56:07 +0000 http://joannejacobs.com/2008/06/17/mixed-results-for-dc-voucher-students/#comment-37099 "On Flypaper, Amber Winkler observes that rigorous studies tend to find very modest effects." This is remarkably disingenuous. Plenty of rigorous studies find large effects-- but only when those effects are there to be found. “On Flypaper, Amber Winkler observes that rigorous studies tend to find very modest effects.”

This is remarkably disingenuous. Plenty of rigorous studies find large effects– but only when those effects are there to be found.

]]> By: Charles R. Williams http://www.joannejacobs.com/2008/06/mixed-results-for-dc-voucher-students/#comment-37098 Charles R. Williams Wed, 18 Jun 2008 18:20:14 +0000 http://joannejacobs.com/2008/06/17/mixed-results-for-dc-voucher-students/#comment-37098 Vouchers are a matter of justice not of test scores. It is necessary for the state to subsidize k-12 schooling. It is not necessary for the state to operate the schools on a monopoly basis. Education remains the responsibility of the parents even if the state must assume most of the cost to ensure that schooling is possible for all children. Obama is willing to use other people's children to keep the public schools viable at great cost to these children. He is not willing for his own girls to be used way and he has the cash to prevent it. This is not hypocritical but it is fundamentally unjust. It is unjust because the same taxpayers that are footing the bill for public education are the parents who can't afford private schools for their children. Public schooling is not a gift of the elites (like the Obamas) to people who would otherwise have no way to educate their children. Vouchers are a matter of justice not of test scores. It is necessary for the state to subsidize k-12 schooling. It is not necessary for the state to operate the schools on a monopoly basis. Education remains the responsibility of the parents even if the state must assume most of the cost to ensure that schooling is possible for all children.

Obama is willing to use other people’s children to keep the public schools viable at great cost to these children. He is not willing for his own girls to be used way and he has the cash to prevent it. This is not hypocritical but it is fundamentally unjust. It is unjust because the same taxpayers that are footing the bill for public education are the parents who can’t afford private schools for their children. Public schooling is not a gift of the elites (like the Obamas) to people who would otherwise have no way to educate their children.

]]> By: allen http://www.joannejacobs.com/2008/06/mixed-results-for-dc-voucher-students/#comment-37097 allen Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:17:52 +0000 http://joannejacobs.com/2008/06/17/mixed-results-for-dc-voucher-students/#comment-37097 Of course he's a hypocrite. He wouldn't send his kids to unaccountable schools but that's exactly what he's comfortable with for people who can't afford to purchase accountability. Of course he’s a hypocrite. He wouldn’t send his kids to unaccountable schools but that’s exactly what he’s comfortable with for people who can’t afford to purchase accountability.

]]> By: Cardinal Fang http://www.joannejacobs.com/2008/06/mixed-results-for-dc-voucher-students/#comment-37096 Cardinal Fang Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:25:25 +0000 http://joannejacobs.com/2008/06/17/mixed-results-for-dc-voucher-students/#comment-37096 If Obama were saying, "Public schools are great and need no changes," then he would be a hypocrite to send his children to private school. But he is not saying anything of the kind. Instead, he is saying public schools have problems and we should make changes. You might not agree with his proposed changes. You might not think that they would, in fact, make public schools better. You might think that different changes-- vouchers, for example-- would be better. But that doesn't make Obama a hypocrite, and ad hominem arguments like these don't advance the discourse. If Obama were saying, “Public schools are great and need no changes,” then he would be a hypocrite to send his children to private school. But he is not saying anything of the kind. Instead, he is saying public schools have problems and we should make changes.

You might not agree with his proposed changes. You might not think that they would, in fact, make public schools better. You might think that different changes– vouchers, for example– would be better. But that doesn’t make Obama a hypocrite, and ad hominem arguments like these don’t advance the discourse.

]]> By: Mrs. Davis http://www.joannejacobs.com/2008/06/mixed-results-for-dc-voucher-students/#comment-37095 Mrs. Davis Tue, 17 Jun 2008 22:53:21 +0000 http://joannejacobs.com/2008/06/17/mixed-results-for-dc-voucher-students/#comment-37095 How great is Barack's commitment to public schools? Does he send his children to the local Chicago City school or the exclusive, elitist Laboratory School of the University of Chicago? How great is Barack’s commitment to public schools? Does he send his children to the local Chicago City school or the exclusive, elitist Laboratory School of the University of Chicago?

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