Bush, California Voucher Proposals

* What about George W. Bush’s voucher plan doesn’t Ronald Brownstein (Washington Outlook, Oct. 2) understand? When I and people like myself are forced to pay thousands of dollars per year in taxes to fund lousy public schools, why should we be denied a voucher that would give us the right to send our children to the school of our choice, not the government’s? I paid the money, didn’t I? My children are getting a substandard education, aren’t they? The day of a government telling a taxpayer to “shut up and just keep paying your taxes” is finally coming to an end. Bush’s plan will make lousy public schools wither up and blow away, and good riddance.

TIM LUCKETT

Rancho Cucamonga

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Brownstein’s critical column about Bush’s proposal for $1,500-per-year school vouchers for poor children trapped in failing public schools hinges on his very narrow interpretation of local control of public schools. He claims that Bush’s proposal to require states to pay half ($750) intrudes on local control and, therefore, it doesn’t fit with Bush’s promise to return local control to schools. There is no conflict here. California now spends nearly 10 times that amount for each student. When a low-income family chooses a private school the taxpayers save the difference. If anything, local control of public schools would be enhanced, because there would be much more money available with no federal strings attached.

JOHN HOPKINS

Northridge

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Jeff Orlinsky’s assertion that vouchers will make things worse for public schools (Voices, Sept. 30) is the best argument yet for vouchers. How is it that Catholic schools perform better with lower teacher salaries in buildings that are not falling apart? We dump millions of tax dollars every year into public schools only to see the money wasted on Belmont and the worthless LAUSD board, while kids cannot even feel safe in their classrooms. Enough is enough. Vouchers will create alternatives to the LAUSD and force it to improve.

GLENN S. WAGGNER

Tarzana

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A school voucher system will draw even further support away from public schools. Taken to the ultimate, any parents who really care about their kids’ education would have their kids in private schools. Who would be left to care about the public schools?

You want to improve the public schools? Ban private schools. You want to bet that the moment the offspring of L.A.’s rich and powerful are forced to attend public schools you wouldn’t see an immediate and comprehensive effort to improve the public schools?

Jimmy Carter had a lot of faults as president, but one thing he got right was enrolling Amy Carter in the Washington public school system. It’s a shame that more public officials and others didn’t follow suit. That’s the way you’ll improve the public schools--not by encouraging even further abandonment through a school voucher initiative.

RICHARD HORMEL

Los Angeles