Posted by
Michael on Monday, November 12, 2007 5:13:51 AM
Michael Barone's latest column
focusses on the influence of teachers' unions in the progression of
American education. He lays out very simply why vouchers (which are
designed specifically to give lower-income children the opportunity to
go to private schools):
The teacher unions are
an incredibly important source of money and volunteers for the
Democratic Party -- about one in 10 delegates at recent Democratic
national conventions have been teacher union members or their spouse.
When they snap their fingers, the Democrats jump. Vouchers threaten to
dry up dues money, and that is that.
I try to avoid
sounding like a partisan, but the fact that the Democratic Party is so
tied to groups that harm children (indirectly or directly) is a reason
why I will never vote for one of their candidates until the policies
they advocate change. On the critical issue of education, the
Democratic policy is to keep pouring money into failed schools and
failed programs and maybe someday results will improve. It is time for
new ideas, so that the next generation after mine (I'm afraid the
damage has already been done there) will be prepared to compete in the
global market.