Beat40 said:

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TxAgPreacher said:

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School choice and a voucher so kids can go to small private Christian academy's for basically free.

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If a voucher is provided by any sort of government, be it local, state, or federal, I am against it.

Sounds great in theory, but you allow government to fund anything, you're giving them an opportunity to assert control. Government should not determine what a private Christian academy does, and government provided vouchers give them an in road to do that.

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It's not the gov't's money, it's YOUR money that you pay to the gov't in form of property taxes.

The Department of Education was established by Congress and only Congress can eliminate it.

akm91 said:

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Beat40 said:

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TxAgPreacher said:

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School choice and a voucher so kids can go to small private Christian academy's for basically free.

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If a voucher is provided by any sort of government, be it local, state, or federal, I am against it.

Sounds great in theory, but you allow government to fund anything, you're giving them an opportunity to assert control. Government should not determine what a private Christian academy does, and government provided vouchers give them an in road to do that.

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It's not the gov't's money, it's YOUR money that you pay to the gov't in form of property taxes.

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How is it still your money once you hand it over? Do you have control on how it's spent?

Get rid of the department of education. Waste of good money.
- retired educator

Indeed. Free the employees of the DoE to return to their passion for teaching and show the world what they can do in the D.C. public school system.

Little Rock Ag said:

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I am all for shutting down the DOE, but wouldn't that take congressional action? I don't see any way in the world that there enough votes in the House and possibly not the Senate to allow for that to happen.

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Reconciliation at new term? Just takes majority in both chambers right? Eliminate entire budget for DOE at least and delete entire department at best.

Fishing Fools said:

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Serious question…What exactly does the DOE do?

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They help fund Special Ed, dyslexia, speech therapy, life skills, Gifted and Talented education, etc.

They make sure schools follow special Ed laws, 504 plans, IEP's, ADA laws, etc. They are a safeguard for children with special needs and their families. DOE gets involved when families go to them when school districts aren't following the laws. About 25 years ago they got involved in an issue with a school in the next town over who wasn't providing proper funding and services to kids with special needs and wasn't following special Ed laws. That school district got their **** together real quick after the visit.

DOE also oversees Pell Grants and student loans for college.

Howdy, it is me! said:

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akm91 said:

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Beat40 said:

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TxAgPreacher said:

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School choice and a voucher so kids can go to small private Christian academy's for basically free.

---

If a voucher is provided by any sort of government, be it local, state, or federal, I am against it.

Sounds great in theory, but you allow government to fund anything, you're giving them an opportunity to assert control. Government should not determine what a private Christian academy does, and government provided vouchers give them an in road to do that.

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It's not the gov't's money, it's YOUR money that you pay to the gov't in form of property taxes.

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How is it still your money once you hand it over? Do you have control on how it's spent?

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That is the problem right now. There is no control over how the money is spent. With the voucher, parents have a say in how their money is spent to educate their kids.

It's too late for my wife and I as both our kids are in college and both my wife and I are 1000% behind this to give some educational purse control back to the parents.

pagerman @ work said:

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The Department of Education was established by Congress and only Congress can eliminate it.

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While it may ultimately require congressional APPROVAL and/or end up in Court, Eisenhower did effectively eliminate the Federal Security Agency himself. Congress went along with it to some extent, but didn't codify all of the changes made.

Congress can not force the President to a) appointed a Sect. of Education or b) staff the agency, nor can it prevent him from selling the property it runs out of.

Fishing Fools said:

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Serious question…What exactly does the DOE do?

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They create unbelievable levels of bureaucracy that makes educator's jobs much more difficult. They would not be missed for one second other than by the thousands of bureaucrats working there.

TxAgPreacher said:

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School choice and a voucher so kids can go to small private Christian academy's for basically free.

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Of course you know this is done by the state and not the federal dept of education. You also know that's not how it works but I'm sure you thought this was clever.

BurnetAggie99 said:

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My only question is what happens to all the kids/students who have disabilities that fall under IDEA - Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. There current laws that the DOE at the Federal level make sure these students are taken care of.

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While I don't know a lot about this specific program, it will almost certainly be run better by the state and local government than by that bloated fed bureaucracy.

Quote:

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They help fund Special Ed, dyslexia, speech therapy, life skills, Gifted and Talented education, etc.

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They don't fund anything. They inefficiently distribute money confiscated from taxpayers to schools and many other entities and attach strings to force unwanted policies down throats. So essentially we give them money that they use to coerce us.

They cost us prime rib prices and serve us gruel. And they have conditioned the public to clamor "please don't take away our food!"

akm91 said:

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Howdy, it is me! said:

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akm91 said:

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Beat40 said:

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TxAgPreacher said:

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School choice and a voucher so kids can go to small private Christian academy's for basically free.

---

If a voucher is provided by any sort of government, be it local, state, or federal, I am against it.

Sounds great in theory, but you allow government to fund anything, you're giving them an opportunity to assert control. Government should not determine what a private Christian academy does, and government provided vouchers give them an in road to do that.

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It's not the gov't's money, it's YOUR money that you pay to the gov't in form of property taxes.

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How is it still your money once you hand it over? Do you have control on how it's spent?

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That is the problem right now. There is no control over how the money is spent. With the voucher, parents have a say in how their money is spent to educate their kids.

It's too late for my wife and I as both our kids are in college and both my wife and I are 1000% behind this to give some educational purse control back to the parents.

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As this is a state issue, not sure it's a very relevant discussion for this thread, but there are lots of issues with vouchers. We should be pushing for less property taxes - not giving the government the money in the first place and therefore retaining full control. Vouchers are an opportunity to invite the government into private businesses along with their regulations.