Trojan gift

RE: "Pete's Trojan Horse" (SN&R, Guest Commentary, April 9, 1998)

There was at least one bit of truth in the guest commentary
by F. Gordon Greene; Wilson's "reform" would create a whole new
statewide bureaucracy to evaluate the quality of schools.  So instead 
of bloated education bureaucracy, we taxpayers pay for bloated
state bureaucracy.

The most egregious error in Mr. Greene's commentary, is his
assumption that granting vouchers "en masse" would cause a 
"general downsizing of educational opportunities,"  when quite
the opposite is true.  Vouchers could cause a general 
downsizing of publicly run schools, yet a general increase in
educational opportunities as parents choose schools better
suited to their child's particular needs.

Greene talks of the "frightening prospect" of public money 
going to private institutions causing a dismantling of public
education.  But that prospect is really the dismantling of 
public schools, not public education, as the private schools
would essentially be contracted out by the state.

Maybe Greene should offer a proposal like vouchers limited
to publicly run schools.  That would give parents the opportunity
to choose the public school best suited to their child, creating
at least some competition between schools and school districts,
and remove the possibility of public money channeled into private
institutions.  

The people of California recognize that the present system is
badly broken and want it fixed.  I expect we will vote for 
Wilson's Tojan horse, only to find that Greene has been
looking a gift horse in the mouth.

Gerald Klaas