The "EveryBody" Insider
Communicating the Concerns of Black People

I certainly concur that parents deserve choices for educating their children; however, people disagree on how those choices should be paid for especially if public funds are involved.

It seems that the public schools have been singled out as "failures" in educating children. And, failure is defined by standardized test scores. And, the tests keep changing from time to time just as the schools try to adjust to them. Meanwhile, private schools are not subject to such pressure, anxiety, and caprice.
I have two kids in secondary school. One child is in public school and the other is in private school. I do not regard either of my kids' schools to be "failures". However, I am sick and tired of those darn tests in public schools. There is too much pressure and too much POLITICS surrounding public school testing. There are too many people trying to draw to many conclusions for too many reasons based on those test scores. The value of property and by extension the value of life itself seems to revolve around the test scores of kids in the public schools in a given neighborhood or school.

School safety is a concern everywhere. This problem may be more visible in certain areas but who would have thought that Columbine High School would have endured such tragedy a few years ago. And, private schools are not immune from harm and scandal. There are children who have been abused and molested by their teachers at some private schools. Evil respects no boundaries. 

The idea of taking public funds from the public schools and basically giving it to private school is certainly an option worth discussion. The downside is that not all students can be absorbed into the private schools. And, there would need to be some sort of accountability for those public funds. That could mean that the testing pressures would migrate into the private schools. The removal of funds from the public school would certainly not help to improve the condition of students and teachers left in the public system.
Subsidizing private schools gives those schools access to additional revenue. As a private school parent I know that private and public schools alike never cease to need additional money. The vouchers constitute a certain amount of revenue per child. They can target a certain class size and revenue stream based on the vouchers. However, there is a limit to classroom size that is considered acceptable or optimal. This (class size optimization decision) limits the growth rate of the school. I would foresee that somewhere down the line a corporate structure could develop to plan the school's expansion. 

The trend toward privatization of schools like the privatization of prisons may lend to growth of another de facto for profit institution.

The other issues such as social integration along ethnic lines would need to be addressed.
Reed focuses on the status of Black children and the maneuverings and words of Black leaders. However, the largest minority group and certainly the largest number of minority school aged children are Hispanic (Native American, White or Black).

Any strategy for improving the education system MUST include consideration of the needs of the Hispanic population and the non-Hispanic population. While public schools have shown some initiative in adopting bilingual programs to meet the needs of the Spanish speaking children, it is not clear that the vouchers will enable the parents to receive the same or better educational services at very many private schools.

The strategy for improving the educational opportunities for children is to be open to weighing pros and cons of various options while recognizing needs of all sorts of children and looking beyond not only partisanship but also going beyond politics altogether.