Vouchers Are a Reverse Robin Hood Scheme
In this video, Dr. Justin Baeder argues that school vouchers divert public money to private interests, primarily benefiting families who were already paying private school tuition.
Key Takeaways
- Vouchers subsidize the wealthy - Most voucher money goes to families who were already sending their children to private school
- Public schools lose funding - Every voucher dollar diverted from public schools reduces resources for the students who remain
- No voucher program has proven transformative - Despite decades of advocacy, voucher programs haven't produced the promised improvements in student outcomes
Transcript
School vouchers are kind of a reverse Robin Hood situation where money is taken from public schools that serve all kids and given to wealthier kids who already attend private school.
And I think there's been a lot of implication that private schools would then start serving more poor kids and serving a more diverse body of students.
But why would that be the case, right?
Private schools are already serving the students that they want to serve and they can simply raise tuition if those students will start bringing voucher dollars with them.
So I think we've got to reject This privatization move, this reverse Robin Hood, where we're taking resources that are public resources in the public good and allocating them to private interests, right?
There's nobody stopping you from paving your driveway, but that doesn't mean you get to raid the county roads department, the highway department's budget to pave your own driveway.
There's nothing wrong with sending your kid to private school.
I have nothing against private schools.
I like private schools.
But they're private, and they should be funded with private money, not public money.
And I'm very worried about the continued decimation of public schools as they get robbed of resources, as they have fewer and fewer people caring about and investing in them, because it's everybody for themselves with privatization and with the dollars that follow the student.
This is not in the public interest.
So I think we've got to say no to this reverse Robin Hood deal.
Let me know what you think.