Dustin Saunders doesn’t like the idea of the state offering poor and middle-class families vouchers for their kids to attend private schools.
“It’s like putting a Band-Aid on a gunshot wound,” he said. “It’s not going to fix the problems.”
Saunders has six kids in South Bend schools and two younger children who’ll join their siblings in the district’s magnet programs.
“(A voucher program) would be a good idea if it was a last resort,” he said. But enough has not been done to improve public education, he believes.
Despite many public-school advocates sharing Saunders’ sentiments, thousands of public school students in Indiana could soon have access to government-funded vouchers to help pay for private-school tuition.
House Bill 1003 - the voucher bill, as it’s called - is a major component of Gov. Mitch Daniels’ education reform plan.
The House Education Committee approved the bill Feb. 17 to make it eligible for a vote in the full House of Representatives, but the Democratic walkout that began Feb. 21 has left the bill in limbo.
It’s possible the Senate will amend the voucher language into another bill if the House stalemate doesn’t end soon.
For and against
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