Good morning, Phil--

There are "Christian schools" that were founded with the express purpose of avoiding racial integration. They don't want government money because then they'd have to integrate.

There are church-related schools that practice a discipline policy that kicks discipline problems out immediately, with no process. Their high success rate is due to this policy. They don't want to have to deal with "due process" considerations, so they don't want government money either.

There are some church-affiliated schools that teach religion not just in religion class and by requiring the opening of each class with a prayer, but all day, even in science class. (Attention, all creationism opponents.) They might have to alter this approach if they accept government money, so they don't want it either.

There are some private schools that are barely getting by who, if they accepted government money, would have to make their buildings wheelchair-accessible, which would bankrupt them. So they don't want government money, either.

Your typical voucher doesn't pay for the complete education cost of the extra student, unless the teacher is working for free. Her title is not Ms., Mrs. or Miss, but Sister. There aren't a lot of nuns out there anymore, either. Or you could employ the woman down the street with the GED who's near the end of her welfare benefits. How hard can it be to teach? All those unionized teachers do it all the time, and to read this board, one would think they are a special breed of imbecile.

And then there are taxpayers like me who would scream if one cent of her taxes went to support a segregated school teaching creationism in science class...

The teachers' unions have something to say about this too, but they are not the only, or even perhaps the principle, factor. Simple solutions to complex problems are, to put it simply, "simple".

Regards--
Mary Anne