Vouching for Vouchers

Today the Indiana Supreme Court unanimously upheld the state's school voucher program. It looks like (some) parents will continue to be able to choose the school they must send their children to instead of having the decision dictated to them on the basis of what their address is.

Now I have been skeptical of school voucher systems in the past. I still worry that they will eventually be used as an excuse to increase government regulation of private schools and I'm never comfortable with the idea of private enterprises being supported by tax money. But the way that teachers unions like the ISTA (the plaintiff in the court case) seem to fear it, makes me think this might be a step in the right direction. You see, it hurts the union's bargaining position if people aren't forced to send their children into the public schools. Compulsory schooling provides a guaranteed stream of revenue and neither the unions nor the government school officials want to share that revenue with private schools.

Mississinewa Community Schools Superintendent Mike Powell seemed to lament the Supreme Court's decision when he said,  “It’s the intent of our legislature to do everything they can to do away with public education". I think Mike might be a little guilty of hyperbole here. I don't think the legislature is exactly brimming with hardcore libertarians. Any matter, he has bravely decided to battle on. "We know we are ( the best option out there), and I just think we need to prove it to our legislators.” I think you need to prove it to your customers, Mikey. You know, the parents of the children you are supposed to be educating.

There is a proposal out right now to increase the number of children who qualify for vouchers. This proposal would include children with disabilities as well as others. As a father of a child with Williams Syndrome, I would gladly welcome the ability to use the money that is taxed from me in the name of my child's education, to help pay for the school my wife and I decide is best for her.

And really, that's what it is all about. Letting parents choose how to spend the money they earn in order to best educate their children. But those who oppose school vouchers make a valid point. They see this program as essentially a means of funding religious institutions (as many private schools are) with tax dollars. If you are not religious, you should not be forced pay for religious teachings. I agree with this point. But is the solution to force parents to send their children to schools others would prefer they attend? Or to pony up extra cash to send their children to a school more to their liking while still being coerced into subsidizing the public school system?

Wouldn't it be better if nobody was compelled to spend their money on schooling of which they don't approve? Isn't there a way to make sure that religious people aren't made to support secular schooling and the non-religious aren't made to fund religious schooling? Perhaps we should treat schooling in the same manner that we treat food, clothing, shelter, and (formerly) medicine. Perhaps the same market that provides us with ever increasing improvements in technology with ever decreasing relative prices could also provide us with a vast array of affordable education options. Perhaps we should take the government guns out of the equation altogether and allow people to experience a free market of schools. I bet you never hear that idea come out of the legislature (You can breathe easy, Mr. Powell).

For now, I'll settle for a voucher.