Thursday, March 01, 2007

It's all about the money

In my class on the sociology of education we have been discussion school reforms of late, which brought up the issue of vouchers. In the past, I've been somewhat pro-voucher, but our discussions have made me rethink the issue, particularly in regards to for-profit schools. I suppose this also applies to for-profit management of normal public schools and for-profit charter schools. In any case, it really comes down to the money. The populace is told that it takes X amont of money to educate a child, and are therefore being taxed at a certain rate to provide said money. If, when given X amount of money per student, a school is able to turn a profit for their investors, the government must be giving them too much money (and taking too much from the taxpayers). No matter how thin they make their profit margins, if a school is making money it is being given too much money. The money from the taxes are there for the benefit of the student. Besides, even if all the basic expenses are covered in less than the per-pupil allowance, there are always other things that the money could be spent on.

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