EVEN THOSE AT GOLGOTHA GOT A CHOICE (THOUGH THEY CHOSE BARABBAS) :

No Quick Crucifix (Steven Waldman, July 8, 2002, Slate)
Mr. Waldman writes that school vouchers may not benefit Christians because of three factors :

"1. Mission Dilution"
"2. Growth of Minority Religions"
"3. Tuition Inflation"

The first is a serious concern and it is why a voucher program should be as neutral as possible. Parents should be given their voucher for $2500 or $4000 or whatever and told that it can be redeemed for educational costs in any form of their choosing. They can buy a computer, hire a tutor, pick a school, etc., but the government role stops once the voucher is cashed. We might want to test all students periodically, but beyond that there should be no governmental interference with curricula, teaching methods, hours, etc.

The second is really none of our concern. If Mormons or Muslims or Wiccans or what have you can do a good job teaching kids and parents choose to give them money, then so be it.

The third is a valid concern, that once a kid has a voucher that covers the entire cost of his Catholic school education the school will be tempted to raise the tuition. However, the beauty of the market is that there'll presumably be people who will step in and undercut the tuition hikers. And it's not as if the cost of public school education has been steady or falling over the last forty years while it deteriorated. Costs have skyrocketed even as the quality of education has declined. In fact, there's arguably a direct correlation between the amount we spend on education and the decline in quality. Hard to believe it will get worse once market forces are brought to bear.

Finally, so what? Despite how the Left and the media have portrayed the issue, the point of this whole exercise is not actually to benefit Christians. The point is to give parents choices about where and how their kids are educated. If those choices end up helping Christianity, that's great. If not, big deal. The real question will be not are Christians better off but are kids better off.

Posted by Orrin Judd at July 9, 2002 10:26 PM