Camden NJ Parents, Voucher Advocates want matching Student Funding, like their public counterparts. Vouchers Still a good Deal?

Naomi Klein popularized “disaster capitalism,” where business interests swoop in during a crisis, and take everything for themselves before anyone notices.

The phony “crisis” in education, where teachers are lousy and union bosses steal taxpayer money, is just an excuse to go private. It commodifies kids for profit. The problem is, voucher money is still only half the amount given to public schools, so they want that to change.  

I've warned parents about this for years. Below is the first interesting legal attempt I know of that tries to get it all via the courts.  

Phillycom: The parents of three Camden public school students filed a petition Monday asking the state Department of Education to immediately transfer their children to higher-performing schools at state expense, arguing that Camden had failed to meet New Jersey's constitutional requirement of providing a "thorough and efficient" education. The parents, their attorneys, and advocates for charter schools and voucher programs have asked the state to use the roughly $22,000 per pupil it spends in Camden to fund the children's education at better-performing schools, whether private schools in the district or public schools elsewhere.

And if those schools are full? There will be other attempts and other clever tricks to send taxpayer money into the hands of private educators. I’m reminded of a comment I heard recently; since when is a private sector, free market system allowed to take any government money?