A Step in the Right Direction

Douglas County Schools did something landmark in the realm of education this week. On Tuesday, the board UNANIMOUSLY approved a voucher plan of $4,575 each, for up to 500 students in the district to attend private schools.

As a stronger believer in choice, I view this as a positive step in the overall poor direction that public education continues to travel. Furthermore, if the public schools are as good as they claim to be (and I have no opinion on this district personally), then a little competition is healthy and certainly not a threat to them.

So why do people fear vouchers so much? One of the reasons is that many of the private schools are religious based schools. Another is that many of the schools cost 2 to 4 times more than the voucher amount, which will still prevent many people from accessing the vouchers.

But where there is a will, there is a way. So, even if the vouchers help just one child access a better education than they currently are getting in a public setting, isn't that worth it?