Reply #73: Answers below. I know you won't be convinced ... [View All]

I'm not 'getting it', it is being used as allocated by the government, for the education of a pupil.
There is no way I would allow you to take more money out of the public system then you put into it!!!
But you are 'getting it', because they are giving YOU the voucher. So let say you want your kid to go to Maclay school
which is in line with the amount allocated per student. But they're overcrowded. So you send you kids to a
school that's cheaper, and only charge $5000 per student. What happens to the remain $4000? Since YOU got
the voucher, you get the taxpayers money tax free.

This type of 'outsourcing' of formerly DoD functions is a direct result of the downsizing of the military. I know, because my first job at 16 was in the mess hall at Eglin AFB and Duke Field. As the military started downsizing they emphasized keeping military staff for the 'point of the spear' functions, and outsourcing as many non-combat functions as they could. I took that job because the pay was significantly higher than other summer jobs available (but it did mean getting up at 5am to be at Duke Field on weekends for the Guard). In the mess hall were a handful of enlisted and an NCO overseeing food prep, but the bulk of 'grunt work' (washing dishes, putting food on trays, cleaning tables, etc.) was done by contract staff like me.
But this is exactly what is going to happen. Because of the PROFIT motive, the first couple of years they'll do what they need to do to acquire the students. They may lose money just to attract the student to their school. Once they have the numbers they want, you'll see the price start to go up. They'll start charging the parents for the students computer use, library use, Lunch will be more expensive to buy, gym class will be more expensive. They won't pay the workers more, just charge more. Eventually some parents will complain and remove their students to a more affordable charter school or even back to a public school, that the current school will not be able to maintain they profit so they start losing money, and then close the school because they can't get the parents to pay the price needed to make a profit.
OR They stay open because they are making so much profit because the price they spend on the student is only about 33% of what they charge the parents for that education. Otherwise overcharging to me is the same as WASTE. And, I believe you'll see more WASTE/Overcharging at a Charter/Private school.

Last but not least, try mailing a letter to a neighbor across the street without using the USPS.
I don't care what the law say, my point is that nobody can do it as cheap as the public system. Why? Because there is power in numbers.
The more that put into it, the cheaper per person it gets. The waste will not be anywhere near what a private company will charge us
for the profit they want to make. Example after example has already proven that.

The government outlaws competition in the field of first class mail so it can overcharge customers in densely populated areas and undercharge customers in sparsely populated areas. This is done to create universal costs (mailing a letter from Maine to California costs the same as mailing a letter across town).
I would be fine with ending that monopoly, but the Constitution empowers the Congress to regulate postal service as they see fit and you have plenty of Congressmen from rural districts where people wouldn't want to bear the true costs of postal service to their area. The USPS monopoly lets them 'free ride' on overcharged people in more dense settings. But really, this has nothing to do with parent/student choice in education.
Why are you even a Democrat? You just repeat the Reagan mantra "Less government is better".
Repeat after me "Less government is better", "Less government is better" ...

But they do 'profit' (advantage; benefit; gain). If they didn't do it to their economic benefit they would be doing it for free. Last time I checked the volunteers didn't outnumber the paid staff. But they do 'profit' (advantage; benefit; gain). If they didn't do it to their economic benefit they would be doing it for free. Last time I checked the volunteers didn't outnumber the paid staff.
Again, THEY ARE EMPLOYEES. They can't charge the system extra because they want to make more 'PROFIT'. They get evaluated by their supervisors and are given pay raises based on their performance. The fact that you think a salary is profit speaks volumes.

Is being a teacher at a government school a calling while being a teacher at a private/parochial/charter school isn't?
It's a calling either way, but the charter school doesn't have to hire certified or accredited teachers. So they can't collectively bargain for a better wage or benefits. This allows the Private Entity to make even profit on their labor.

I have an example in my community that is private and supplies those things at cost in line with per pupil public school spending, and outstanding educational outcomes. You can't insist it isn't possible when I see it with my own eyes.
I didn't say it wasn't possible. I said that you shouldn't be able to take our tax dollars to that school.
If you want your kids to attend that school, nobody is stopping you. Stop asking for OUR tax dollars to do it.
Take your kids out of public school and send your kids to the school you really want them to attend. I would have liked to have gone
to a private Catholic high school in my neighborhood, but I knew my parents couldn't afford it. You want to be able to send
your kids to private school on the taxpayers back, and I'm not willing to go along with it. Show me you're willing to send them
on your own dime, then I'll be willing to give you your property taxes back ($1386). Talk about being selfish. Unbelievable!