Pam Benigno Provides Independence Institute Response to Douglas County Anti-Voucher Lawsuit
Education Policy Center director Pam Benigno appeared on Denver’s local CBS 4 News on Tuesday, June 21, to respond to the news that so-called civil liberties groups had filed suit in an attempt to stop the Douglas County school board from giving publicly-funded “Choice Scholarships” to district families who opt for a private school education. Click the image below to read the story and watch the video.
“They’re taking away from about 500 kids the opportunity to find the best school that fits their needs,” Benigno said of the ACLU and the other groups behind the lawsuit.
Posted by ben
on Jun 22nd, 2011 and filed under In The News, TV Broadcasts, Vouchers & Tax Credits.
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[...] Education Policy Center director Pam Benigno told CBS 4 Denver about the groups behind the lawsuit: They’re taking away from about 500 kids the opportunity to [...]
[...] Or maybe they could talk to Gretchen Immen and her son Sam. My Education Policy Center friend Pam Benigno described the plaintiffs’ actions well a couple days ago in her interview with CBS 4 Denver: “They’re taking away from about 500 kids the opportunity to find the best school that fits t… [...]
Pam, You ding bat. The Douglas County property tax money (money that I pay) is supposed to benefit ALL of the kids in the PUBLIC schools. It is not meant to benefit a few, privileged kids and private schools. Douglas County both whines heavily that they need more property tax dollars because they allegedly can’t afford to put kids on the school bus but also attests that their school system is world class. Why send kids to private schools if the public schools are worth the salaries that the school board members command?
They have over crowded classes, not enough schools to support the population, but they can pay their superintendent the highest salary in all of Colorado. The teachers have been laid off, and salaries frozen. And now they want to put the thumb screws on the teachers with their “pay for performance” program. Let’s see how effective you are at teaching 32+ kids per class.
How about if Douglas County starts by managing to get the kids on the school bus instead of pushing their narcissistic, grandiose programs. The school bus is a basic essential. Then, they can hire more teachers and thin out the number of kids in a classroom. Then, they can consider success at basic, fundamental education. Let’s see if little Johnny can make simple change without the digital cash register. Teach him to sign his name in cursive and read an analog clock. Remember tactile and spacial skills? You don’t need to go to private school for this.
A happy, motivated kid can learn just as much in a trailer as a palace with a good teacher and a functional system. I attest that the system is dysfunctional and that is the core of the problem. Get the system functional and you won’t consider private school.
Douglas County is essentially saying that their school system is inferior and they can’t fix it. They can’t make their school system more desirable than private school. Think of the exorbitant salaries that the school board members make, and they can’t fix it. How pathetic.
[...] June: The ACLU and other school choice opponents filed suit against the program [...]