Educational Vouchers: A Trap

The latest “conservative” fad in education — vouchers for private schools — is little more than dangerous humbug.

At first glance, the voucher system looks good, if you like welfare and statism. It provides a way for parents to give their children the benefits of private school without having to pay extra for it. Payment would be handled simply by transferring to private schools the money that would otherwise go into public schools. This seems eminently reasonable to those who have difficulty seeing past their own pocketbooks. The state already taxes me for my children’s education, they say. If I’d rather place them in a private school, why should I pay twice?

The High Cost of Cheap Vouchers

What they forget is a fundamental principle of life: he who pays the piper, calls the tune. Whatever the government finances, it regulates. And just wait till those bully regulators get their hands on all those nice, naive, virginal private schools, especially the Christian ones. If the history of government is any indication, what we will certainly wind up with under a voucher system is the state educational bureaucracy exercising complete control over what used to be called “private” education. Your favorite private school will be subjected to the same Department of Education guidelines, the same daffy psycho-experimentation on unsuspecting students, and the same amoral courses that have ruined the public schools. Oh, I almost forgot. Red tape. Lots and lots of it. So much for “choice in education.”

Certainly, the argument for educational vouchers seems fair and reasonable. After all, goes the logic, the state already taxes me to pay for public schools. If I decide to teach my children at home, or send them to a private school, I’m actually being forced to pay twice for the same product. Why not have my education dollars go to the same institution my children are schooled in? It’s an attractive argument, as pocketbook arguments always are. The idea has a special appeal for conservatives, who have been complaining about the decline of the public schools for many years. A voucher program — or, as the popular slogan phrases it, “choice in education” — appears to redress the inequity of a corrupt system in which an educational monopoly extorts money from parents and then dictates which school their children must attend. If parents are allowed to designate their tax dollars to the school of their choice, public institutions will be forced out of a monopoly position. They’ll have to compete with private schools — and everyone knows who the winner of that fight will be. As good as it looks, however, it’s a trap. The real issue for the education bureaucrats has never been a simple matter of money. They are after a bigger prize: control. If we are so foolish and shortsighted as to keep our eyes on money alone, our children will be stolen right out from under us.

The Course of Compromise

Think, for just a moment, of how such a program would be administered. Let’s say you ask the state to send your tax dollars to Chilton’s Private Academy, where your seventh grader is enrolled. The state investigates the school, and finds to its horror that children are not being taught the three R’s, but are sitting around playing Nintendo all day long instead. Will the state allow you to claim my academy as a valid recipient of tax dollars? Of course not. Okay, it was a ridiculous example. Now let’s consider a real scenario. Instead of teaching Nintendo, Chilton’s Private Academy is teaching Creationism — not as an “option,” but as incontrovertible Fact. Evolution is regarded as silly hogwash. Abortion is called murder. A single human life is regarded as infinitely more precious than any number of spotted owls. Sex education is left to the parents. The Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments are recited every day, in place of a flag salute. Students who don’t make the grade are unceremoniously flunked. Students who get violent, use drugs, or blaspheme are kicked out. All employees are required to sign a statement of faith (which includes a pro-life article). Oh, and one more thing. The school not only refuses state accreditation; it flatly denies employment to any state-credentialed teacher. Hiring is based solely on theological orthodoxy, personal morality, academic achievement and teaching ability. Would such a school stand a snowball’s chance of getting your tax dollars? Not as long as militant secular humanism is the reigning philosophy in the state educational establishment. Now let’s take it one step further. Headmaster Chilton would like more students in his school, and he’d like to get his hands on all that tax money. He realizes the school must conform to state standards in order to qualify for funding, so the rigid standards are dropped. The curriculum becomes more “balanced.” But as the school becomes more acceptable to the state, something remarkable takes place. Chilton’s Private Academy begins to look more and more like a state school. Soon it is totally dominated by state policy, completely indistinguishable from a public school. Educational vouchers will result in nothing less than the functional destruction of private and Christian schools in America. In fact, such a system was responsible for the demise of Christian schools in Great Britain. Remember this iron rule: what the state finances, the state regulates. No exceptions.

The Only Solution

Roy Maynard’s impassioned plea for vouchers in a recent World magazine cover story (August 17-24), “Pro-Choice (on Education),” cleverly ignores the fact that any possible voucher plan requires the government to confiscate more tax dollars from citizens in order to fund a “Christian” education. Even in the name of Christ, theft is still theft. Oppressive taxation is a great evil. But it will never be abolished by a tax rebellion. The only way to rid ourselves of an unjust tax burden is what economist Hans Sennholz calls a “benefits rebellion” — when the American people develop the moral character to “Just Say No” to government handouts. Taxation will stop when everybody refuses to be bribed. Do you want real choice in education? Simply abolish public schools, and education taxes along with them. Why make the state the middleman? Just let parents have complete freedom about where to educate their children, and leave them alone. Offer parents a clear alternative. If they want, they may enroll Dick and Jane in a secular humanist school. The kids might not learn how to read and write, but they’ll sure find out all there is to know about condoms. Or the parents may choose a traditional Christian school with strong disciplinary standards, or a Jewish or Muslim school. Or they may opt out of the system altogether and teach their children at home. In any event, this would offer a true choice in education — a choice, incidentally, that the political and educational establishments will fight tooth and claw to prevent you from getting.

It’ll never happen. So let’s stop dreaming about the government suddenly turning benevolent and get back to reality. If there must be a voucher system, let’s make sure it applies only to public schools! That way, parents can have their children indoctrinated at the state institution of their choice. If private schools refuse welfare, I can confidently make another prediction: They will overcome. No matter what unfair advantages public schools have — indeed, in some cases, because of them — they will only get worse and worse. This is inevitable. Humanists will always disembowel themselves on the altar of consistency. As an analogy, consider an interesting sociological aspect of abortion. In droves, humanists are killing their seed — their future — while Christians keep having babies or adopting them. That alone should tell you who will win in the long run. One side sacrifices their children for the sake of convenience. The other side sacrifices their own convenience for the sake of their children.

The case of education is exactly parallel. Sure, private education is costly, and the costs are unfair. It’s a sacrifice. That’s why it works! Parents who care about their children’s education are willing to make sacrifices. And those who make the sacrifices end up caring even more. Don’t be fooled. Private schools only cost money. Public schools — or “public” money in private schools — could end up costing you your children. So the heathen shall fear the name LORD, and all the kings of the earth Thy glory! — Psalm 102:15

They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My Holy Mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea! — Isaiah 11:9