and each time conservatives and libertarians bring this up I raise one giant question that seems to never get fully addressed.

Your family lives on the South side of the tracks. Your neighborhood school, funded by the meager property taxes in your economically depressed area, has a hard time attracting quality teachers because the Federal government has decided that they'll be under the microscope if the test scores drop below the national average. That does tend to suppress their income and look bad on their resume should they decide to relocate. Now that crumbling school which just had a section of it closed because of mold growth does have on major advantage. It's within walking distance of your home.

You're a single mother working two jobs. Your elementary school provides more than just an education to your kids. It also keeps you from having to spend money for child care during the school year which gives at least some relief. Without that break you'd surely be in foreclosure on your home or kicked out for failure to pay rent.

Your method of getting to work is an hour ride on a city bus. Your one car gave up the ghost long ago or the responsible act of keeping insurance and license on it just became too much. Let's not even talk about gas costs.

You know your children won't receive the same level of public education that children will in the upscale neighborhoods of the city you live in. Your district's tiny budget won't allow for field trips anymore. You'd like your child in band but the the cost of buying or renting the instrument they'd like to play is prohibitive. However, you've met some of their teachers and they're doing the best they can. They're basically good people. What choice do you have but to trust they'll get good out of their experience there?

Oh what? I said that magical word - choice. Aha, the Republican lawmakers whose own children attend those well-funded schools, really do care for you. They want to pass a voucher program not just for you but for all children. With that money all parents can now send their little Johnny's and Mary's off to any old school they desire and the competition will make the best of them prosper and the worst simply fade away.

You're ready to sign up. Your children will now have the opportunities America always promised, that all men were created equal in rights and rewards.

Oh wait, the closest school that is an actual step up from your empoverished and failing one is 10 miles away. Surely these kind legislators have added in some transportation allowance to get you out of your hole? No? Well of course not. That would be cost prohibitive and those good rich folks aren't burdened so much with limited personal transportation opportunities. Often one or both parents either don't work or have quality jobs that cater to their hours or allow them to work from home. They have mulitiple vehicles should one break down and hmmmm, just so happens that the private schools they'd like to send their kids to anyway have more of a tendency to open up in those affluent neighborhoods they tend to live in.

You find it interesting that none of these comfortable families are using their vouchers to send their precious children into your neighborhood school despite the fact that their children will truly learn about other cultures and get some real exposure to the various striations and tiers of society. Strange, all you'd heard about vouchers was advertised to be an assistance to people just like you. Perhaps it's just your own fault. If you could just get that third job, then maybe......

Art