Give working parents who are poor housing vouchers so they have a chance to move into neighborhoods with better schools
Government offers parents a Hobson’s choice on schools, even if the school is bad. Government taxes the parents (and everyone else) and tells them if they don’t like their one choice, they can pay (after taxes, of course) for a private one, knowing that most can’t ? especially the poor and minorities (unless some education liberator got there before Edwards and and brought education choice).
Along comes Ye Aulde Poverty Pimp, whose bright idea of solving poverty is Wull all we got’s ta do is make da gummint force employers to pay people more! No fuss, no muss! What could be the problem with that?!? Nothing, that’s what! Vote for me.
So now Edwards’ going to bring that unique, innovative thinking to this problem, too. His suggestion is not doing anything about the Hobson’s choice or about the dare to poor people and minorities ? or even about the fact that some government schools are flat-out atrocious. No, let’s keep all those things in place, undisturbed and unchallenged ? let them be the given factors in the equation, before we seek a solution.
It’s a bit like the designers of the H.M.S. Titanic approaching the question of ship safety thus:
Titanic designer: OK, given that (1) striking the iceberg is inevitable and (2) there aren’t enough lifeboats for all the passengers, what should we do?
John Edwards: I say we offer Lifeboat Vouchers to anyone in steerage who has enough awareness to ask about the lifeboat and iceberg problems.
Titanic designer: Jolly good!
Edwards: (singing, to compact) “My part will go on …”
Return to the Locker Room.
