Do vouchers hurt public schools?
May 21, 2010 Question: Do you think giving parents vouchers or tax credits to send their children to private schools helps or hurts public schools? DEMOCRATS FRANK HOLLEMAN – Greenville attorney ANSWER: I oppose vouchers and tax credits because they undercut our public schools. Almost all of the candidates for the other parties support tax credits or vouchers or both. A candidate cannot contend that he or she wants to direct resources toward the classroom while working to take funds away from the public schools through vouchers or tax credits. These proposals create political conflict and distract us from the hard work of reform. They undercut public schools by taking away substantial funds. They are bad education policy; there is no reason to think that they would raise education achievement, and no reason to think that they would be more effective than early childhood education, teacher quality initiatives, or high school reform. TOM THOMPSON – S.C. State University dean ANSWER: Vouc
