Why Patrick Byrne is a horrible spokesperson for school vouchers
I am in favor of school vouchers. It has worked well in Milwaukee. Don’t let anyone tell you any different. Is the system perfect? No. But the public schools here are terrible, and at the very least, the voucher program gives children an alternative.
Does the voucher program help everyone? No. Some parents are not involved with their children and don’t really care, so they don’t utilize the program. But for the low-income households with parents who care, it has been fantastic.
All of the voucher schools haven’t done well. That is the risk we take. But these children are being given a chance. And that’s how true change will come about. Without the voucher program, the public schools and public teachers have no incentive to improve.
Should vouchers be done in Utah? Yes. Milwaukee has shown that it can work, and low income children deserve a chance.
But Patrick Byrne is the worst kind of spokesperson, and the voucher supporters would do well to distance themselves from him. He has a history of bizarre behavior and ramblings on ludicrous conspiracy theories.
He won’t even apologize for a big blunder he made in talking about minorities who don’t graduate from high school. I understand Byrne’s comments. He just chose some of the worst possible wording, and for that, he needs to apologize and explain. Instead, he calls people liars and refuses to make things right.
Do the proponents of school vouchers really want this type of person speaking for them?
Tracy,
I don’t think he should apologize. I think the worst people going are liberals in this country. They do not care that kids are not graduating from high school. I think Byrne is saying that if you accept the status quo you are bigoted and you may as well write off these kids. It’s that simple. People in this country always want an apology from rich white guys.
If he is so wrong, why are there always more inner-city applicants for vouchers than there are vouchers ever available? The parents know their kids are being burned…..