I am a product of public schools... but not public schools of today. Frankly, I don't see why education is a federal government concern. (just like I don't see why school calendars are based on the old farming calendars of the past when today's work places are on a year round schedule - how many of us deal with the endless summer planning agony every year?)
I would like to see the school administration bloat gutted and teachers that are more enabled on a local level. What works for a community in a large city is not going to be the same for a small town in the heartland.
I would support school choice regardless if people want to use it for a religious school or not as long as the school meets the federal standards - even religious people pay taxes, why shouldn't they have an option for vouchers for a religious school if they don't want to have their children in a public school where their beliefs are not supported when they have to pay their taxes for education too? I personally grew up in a non-religious home (with one parent from an Eastern religious background while other grew up in a Christian community - so my exposure to religion is very non-traditional) but just because I don't strongly support any religious school, to me, does not invalidate vouchers for religious schools...
That is what I resent on a personal level - that I have to pay taxes and then be expected to blindly accept the influence of public schools on my children's education with very little say in their education there. I can support some taxes I pay for the general funds to run a school locally (and not the administrative bloat) but allow some of the money to be used to support my children's education as I see fit, with a school whose view points fits mine. I resent that someone in DC tells ME what they want my children to learn and at what pace they should learn it at, and disregard whether that fits in what I want my children to learn or their natural learning curve.
