Whitney Tilson, commenting on yesterday's New York Times story on the plan to close Catholic schools, has it about right:
Too bad the article doesn't deal with the much bigger issue: the utter INSANITY, from a societal perspective, of allowing inner-city Catholic schools ? which are often oases of safety, discipline and rigor ? to close, while throwing massively more money at catastrophically failing public schools nearby.? Why not give parents a choice: we'll spend $16-17,000 on your child at a public school (the average in NYC), but if you don't think it's right for your child, we'll give you a voucher (perhaps funded by a tax credit) for only HALF the amount that you can use to pay for a private school?? This would empower parents, be another source of pressure on failing public schools to improve, likely result in better outcomes for students (including those ?left behind?), AND save taxpayers money!
Why is choice such a hard concept to sell ? in America, of all places?
?Peter Meyer
