Teachers union president Pete Knotek argued, in a November 19th JT commentary, that school vouchers divert tax dollars to "unaccountable private schools."
I don't think Pete Knotek understands private sector accountability. Private schools are accountable to their customers, namely students and their parents. If the parents are not satisfied, they will send their children to a different school. An unaccountable private school is one without students.
Public sector accountability is another matter entirely. The public school system is accountable to politicians, not parents, as it is politicians that control the purse strings. A public school system could produce abysmal educational results and continue to attract enormous sums of tax dollars, so long as political relationships are nurtured. Where is the accountabilty for educational results in the public sector?
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7 comments:
What a fool I am.
When I started to read his commentary I thought he was going to talk about TEACHER accountability.
He certainly belongs in the position he holds.
YOU HATE KIDS! :)
We pulled our son (who has Autism) out of a public school, in favor of full-time, private therapy. He was in a special education class. The school was not doing what they were supposed to be doing. He was actually de-gressing.You should have heard the reaction from the principal. She even threatened to have us thrown in jail. (Ooooohhhh) It was all lip-service.
Now, who do you think has a greater interest in my son's education? The school or his parents? Do you think the principal cared a bit about our son? Absolutely not. It was the tax dollars that the school would lose if he didn't stay there. Plain and simple. They receive much more money for our special needs son, versus a regular student.
Given that, if any of my other three children were not getting educated properly in their regular classes I would move them to a private school.
So, I guess what I'm saying is...
An unaccountable school is the one who will lose the students that have chosen to go elsewhere.
In our case the unaccountable school was a "public" one.
Caledon, I am glad you have the resources such that you could pull your son out of a school that was harming him. Many parents, particularly those with special needs children, don't have that choice, as you know.
All too well.
Dennis you've said, "The public school system is accountable to politicians, not parents, as it is politicians that control the purse strings". To get to the root of the culpability I think you need to go one step farther. It is the politicians (pronounced Democrats and RINOs) that are accountable to the teachers union. Parents, schools, and educational results are irrelevant.
You are correct Nemo!
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