Political Quotes

“I do, indeed, have some troubling thoughts about this bill--H.R. 2746, the HELP Scholarship Act--though obviously well intentioned. The bill is presented as "Parental Choice," but that choice is obviously conditioned upon the right of private schools to "pick and choose" which students will be accepted apparently on almost any condition--i.e., religion, creed, foreign birth, gender, academic standing, or mental or physical handicap. All in all, there doesn't appear to be as much choice for parents here as there is for the private school. It is held out as "competition for the public schools". It surely is that, but it isn't "fair" competition, that is, there in no "level playing field". Public schools must accept every child who appears at its doors--regardless of race, religion, creed, foreign birth, academic standing, or mental or physical handicaps. When we compare public and private schools, after all, we are comparing good apples and good oranges. They do not compete on the same playing field in elementary and secondary education. I wonder too--as bad as things are in many low income area public schools--what happens to the kids who can't get into a private school and are left behind? There's bound to be a loss of public funds for them, less Ch. VI funds, less state aid which is usually measured on the basis of student population.”