Mitch Daniels argues for school vouchers at Omaha fundraiser

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Omaha World Herald

By Robynn Tysver

Former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels gave a vigorous defense of school vouchers Wednesday, arguing at an Omaha fundraiser that competition is as good for schools as it is for private business.

He also argued it was the moral thing to do.

“This has been defined as the civil rights issue of our time. And, it is,” said Daniels, who was once considered a Republican presidential prospect before he accepted the post of presidency at Purdue University.

Daniels was the featured speaker at the annual luncheon held by the Children’s Scholarship Fund at the Hilton Omaha.

FULL story at link.



Read more: http://www.omaha.com/article/20130605/NEWS/706069943/1707#mitch-daniels-argues-for-school-vouchers-at-omaha-fundraiser

[EC]

1. Did he say why the state should pay

for this "competition". Isn't the basis of "free enterprise" that the state doesn't interfer?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

2. It wasn't that long ago when the DLC would have tried to recruit him.

[sulphurdunn]

3. PR Pols

Typical Republican politician. They never encounter a problem that can't be solved by diverting public money into euphemized "free enterprise" even when it's the problem to begin with. Their business boosterism and willingness to subsidize wealth and greed at the expense of the public good, using public money, is boundless.

[Crow73]

4. Privatizing stuff

Always works...
How is the fiber to your modem?
Oh right....

[caraher]

5. He now has to go out of state to peddle this BS

Indiana voters dumped Tony Bennett, Daniels' voucher/charter school pusher, from state office last November in favor of a Democratic unknown because not even the Red State Kool Aid was enough to hide what a disaster "reform" has been here.

[DhhD]

6. When a student leaves with a voucher (parent decision), the money goes to a/any school that will

enroll the student. Once in, the business answers to no parent. The business does not return the money if the student or parent are unhappy. The public schools then tells the parent that the student may return if they pay tuition for the rest of the school year; and if, the school can take new students. The old/neighborhood school may be full and new students are referred to the closest public sister school.

A parent could screw their child out of a year of school. The child may be returning to the same grade or repeating classes the following year. Hopefully the kid can get back in.

Gov. Daniels wants everybody to go ahead, take a risk on gambling with their child's future.

[AngryOldDem]

7. And is it the "moral" thing to do to slowly kill public schools?

Which is exactly what's happening in Indiana?

[KamaAina]

9. What goes around comes around

Mitch the Bitch is president of Purdue, which draws the bulk of its enrollment from Indiana public schools. All he'll be able to do is watch helplessly as the quality of each incoming class sinks like the Titanic.

[AngryOldDem]

10. Well, at least he won't ream them with high tuition.

He's holding the line on increases.

Getting back to vouchers...in a nutshell, the way it's set up is, parents can say that they want to put their kids in private schools on the state's dime, while there are no guarantees that the private schools are any better than the public ones. As one Democratic state legislator said in the debate on this in the last legislative session, it's a system that will be ripe with fraud.

[KamaAina]

11. I beg to differ!

Florida has a similar system in place that isn't rife with fraud. Except when it is.

[AngryOldDem]

12. One more thing about Indiana...

...the legislators cannot stand the superintendent of education, because she beat their (and Mitch's) baby in the last election. So public schools here are caught in the middle as well. They are slowly chipping away at the superintendent's authority, with the ultimate goal of making it an appointed, rather than an elected, office.

[LiberalFighter]

8. They have fewer regulations and oversight and still fail.