I don't consider myself ultra-conservative, right-wing or any other catchword along those lines. I suspect I have many more hours serving my community and at least as many serving my nation as the previous commentator. I work every week in one of our state's lowest-income neighborhoods, in neighborhoods to where elected school district representatives have for decades excluded representation. Our neighborhoods are where schools are "expected to fail" by the (apparently) "well-educated" elite, and only in the light of recent moves to demand accountability from the education community has change begun to appear.
If vouchers for parents who choose to opt out of inferior or non-existent educational opportunities so that their children can compete is what it takes to make the self-satisfied educational establishment take notice, then why not demand this tool? Name-calling about the motives may be the preferred resort of those supporting the status quo, but it doesn't answer the mail. Where are the solutions that fix our poorest schools?
Look at the results of decades of the "same old, same old." Stagnation is not so pretty. It's past time to put in effect the promises of the last presidential and gubernatorial elections: It's time to change some of our methods in local education, so that our kids are competitive in the State, Nationally and in other world markets.
Meanwhile, name-calling (as always) only serves to confuse and polarize the issues, which must be addressed. I propose considering solutions that don't defend the indefensible.