“How a Wealthy California Town Makes Sure No Poor Kids Attend Its ‘Public’ School”, or so the headline reads. But the truth is, it’s the education system.I happened to come across an article by Robert Reich while skimming through the bulk of the nonsense on Alternet.org Yes; I spend a fair amount of time on these sites to gain some insight into the pulse of the authors and their readership.
The Issue
Reich argues that a wealthy California town worked to remove a young girl from their system because her family was poor. He also tries to tie in immigration policy. However, the truth of the matter is, she is not a legal resident of the school district, or at least this is the argument. According to Reich, the family spends much of their time in a house, in Orinda, where the mother is a nanny. That’s great. However, the school district asserts that her legal residence is with her grandmother who resides in Bay Point. This is of course a problem since, under the current system, you cannot choose a school that is outside of the district in which you reside, even if you pay taxes elsewhere.
The Solution
None of this would be a concern however, if vouchers were in place. Whether the the child was a resident of Orinda, Bay Point, or even somewhere else entirely, a voucher could be used to offset the cost of attendance for any school, public or private. To his credit, Reich does support a voucher program, although he of course wants to use the concept of a “progressive” voucher. He just doesn’t mention how vouchers would solve the problem in this case. He would rather attack the “rich” and perform a little race baiting.
Further Reading
1. A Brief Discussion on Education (Politicoid Series) (Amazon.com)
2. Free Market Immigration