vouchers

[GinaMaria]

Received an action alert this morning about voucher being added to a spending bill. So far it has stalled in congress. Here are some of the talking points from the alert if you would like to use them to call or write.

I urge you to reject, and if necessary support a filibuster on, the omnibus spending bill if it includes private-school vouchers. I strongly oppose this bill because...

There is no requirement that voucher schools hire quality teachers who, at a minimum, have a college degree.

There is no requirement that voucher schools submit to the same requirements under the No Child Left Behind Act as public schools or even that voucher students be tested in the exact same manner as public school students.

The legislation does not prevent voucher schools from discriminating against students based upon disability, gender, limited English proficiency and academic performance and allows religious discrimination against teachers and other staff.

The legislation will not provide real choice to the vast majority of school children and their families, many of whom will be unable to obtain the additional funds to pay for tuition and other private-school costs that are not covered by the voucher, such as transportation, uniforms and books.

Vouchers are opposed by many Washington, D.C. clergy, officials, public-school parent organizations and residents, with the latest poll indicating that residents oppose a voucher program by a 3-to-1 margin.

Legislation with such far-reaching consequences must not be slipped through with little or no debate in an enormous spending bill.

If you've heard a newscast or read the paper recently, you know that Republican leaders Bill Frist and Tom Delay are using their whole bag of tricks to force their right-wing policies on Americans. Their plan to pass school vouchers as part of an enormous spending bill is yet another effort to privatize public education, in the process threatening our children's future.

But we can stop them. We are showing and will continue to show that outrage at the grassroots level can defeat insiders' influence at the highest levels

[La_Serpiente]

1. Wow

I am all against vouchers and all, but filibustering the Omnibus bill is pretty hard if you ask me. Can we stop it? Maybe we can hold it up so they can remove the language.