Learning & Education

• Public Money & Private Schools?

• Community Forum: What Is the Purpose of Education?

• Links to Learning & Education On-Line

Public Money & Private Schools?  Getting Past the Rhetoric

I don't know about you, but one of the things that drives me to distraction about the public-money-and-private-schools debate is that most supposed reporting stops at quoting the major players.  In this regard, it's like Presidential Debates:  The media is there in force for the event, to catch the quip or the slip.  Then they all but disappear when it comes to following up on the facts.

Well ...

Public Money & Private Schools is here to set at least some of the record straight.  I want to highlight just a few of the key pieces of this public puzzle  ... primarily in the hope of getting past some of the endless rhetoric that goes round and round.

What follows, then, are a few facts, plain and simple.  And, just to be clear, I am in favor of a carefully crafted public policy that would allow public funds to follow students to private schools.  But none of what follows is intended to endorse any migration of public funds away from our public schools into the private sector.  Nor is it intended to suggest that, simply because some practices are already in place, they should be extended to all educational policy.  What follows is set out simply in the hope of shifting and focusing the debate to the real issues, and getting past the rhetoric.  ...

In that context, consider these facts:

• Public money already goes to private schools.  That's the first and most important thing to remember.  And it's not just an occasional practice.  It's significant amounts of money, nation-wide.  Moreover, it's systematic, and what's more, it's thoroughly condoned.  ...  The vast majority of it, of course, goes to post-secondary education.  Through grants, loan subsidies, and work-study, public money pours into private colleges and universities all over the country, some of it 'following the student', the rest, provided directly to the schools.
  .

• Public money already goes to religious or sectarian schools.  Here, again, we're talking the colleges and universities.  But the fact is, many of those that receive public funds are sectarian.
  .

• Public money already goes to schools without open admissions.  Once again, we're talking colleges and universities.  The ability of a student to use his or her grant or loan subsidy is not currently dependent upon whether or not the school of choice practices an open admissions policy.  A student can carry that loan or subsidy to any of the most competitive and prestigious schools in the country, provided, of course, that the student can get in.
  .

• Public money in the form of income tax already supports schools, both public and private.  Finally, the federal funds that provide these post-secondary grants and subsidies do not come from property taxes or sales taxes or taxes on business transactions.  The bulk of it comes from where most federal funding comes -- the income tax.

Of course, none of this is news.  But if you listen to the rhetoric, you'd think these facts were among the all-time, best-kept secrets.  ...

In issues to come, we'll continue to focus on this debate.  We think it is one of the most important issues we face.  Of course, any and all are invited to respond.  DownStreet's pages are here to give voice to your views, too.  But fort now, I decided to take the prerogative of my editor's chair and get things moving.

One final note here.  For a related piece, you may want to take a look at this month's Educational Ideas.  There, we invite you to respond to a seemingly simple question:  What is the purpose of education?  If we can get that piece clear, the rest may fall into place a lot more easily.

Lou Colasanti, Editor        

*******       *******

.

   Phone                                (802) 453-5124
    Fax                                    (978) 428-6335
   ... or e-mail
   Advertising:                              ads@downstreetmagazine.com
   Articles & submissions:        submissions@downstreetmagazine.com
   Subscriptions:                          subscribe@downstreetmagazine.com
   ...    

All material copyrighted © 2000-2001.  All rights reserved.
Citations should follow standard conventions.
Please contact us for reprint permissions.
DownStreet Magazine is a registered trademark of Fern Hill Services.
Lou Colasanti, Editor & Laura Wisniewski, Associate Editor
.                                                                                                 .