PG. 20 #1

My first choice:

I sympathize more with the argument made my Patterson that states ..."increasing voter apathy is a danger to democracy." By having a democracy as the way of government you have to be an active member of it, so that nobody comes around and tries to abuse it. By the public making the impression that they don't care or do not have time to vote just puts our legal system at risk for no longer existing some day in the future. Also, other countries that may be looking at the U.s. to see how well a democracy really does work, if thy notice that we aren't very enthusiastic about it as we were when we first came across, they may be decide that the democracy type government is just not what they are looking for or maybe they will decide to use it and just tweak it a bit to make sure that their people vote and are active with in it.
Others may disagree with me by saying that the people don't necessarily have to be active in it, because we don't really make the decisions, the Electoral College does. They may also say that even if other countries look into democracy and notice that ours may not be 'important' to us anymore, they may find a way to keep their people interested and involved with more other than just voting.

Second half(the other side):

I agree with and sympathize more with Patterson's idea of voting strengthening a persons citizenship. By being active in voting you understand and know what is going on in the world around you. You know what you want out of the next president, governor, etc. You also know what you expect that person to be able to offer and to do for the community, state, or country. I do, also, agree that voting ties us together as a community better. Since voting stations are set up in set places within the community, I know in my community they are run through schools and have the neighbors and other people form the community helping out to run the polls and just direct and help the voters if they have problems. Voting allows people to get a sense of closeness and pride with one another even if it is maybe just for a day.
A person who disagrees with my pinion could say that some people only vote to vote and don't care about what is going on in the world around or don't care about what the next official could do for the country or state, because it's all just suck ups and lies. They may also say that voting doesn't necessarily mean you have a god understanding of what you want because over time your ideas tend to change and you see the error of your way, and once you vote it's too late to go back and change it.

Pg. 17 #3

I do believe that the voucher program is a good idea for students because it enables them to experience something and to get more out of life than what are already getting. It always them to have a chance to possibly get a better education. Although along with any good idea comes that dark sides that could cause the program to fall through if not looked at and responded to or helped immediately. The dark sides being not only the public schools not having enough funding do to kids leaving, having an excessive amount of staff and administrators that would no longer be needed possibly, commuting problems for the parents and students alike, along with the possible social problems that it could have on the children. I believe that to not worry about running into these problems, the states who offer these types of programs, and vouchers should make sure that they are able to keep track of where the students are going and how well they are doing in the facility that they chose. If the children isn't doing well I believe that should just take them out of the program and allow them to go back to Public school. Also, along with that, they shouldn't just allow any student who wants to participate in it and who knows about the program to participate in it, they have to have some type of boundary and regulations, so that not everyone is going into these special programs, because some of the kids that take part in the program, most likely don't even care about it.

The administration and faculty(including teachers) of the public schools may argue that the public schools that students are not attending anymore are loosing their luster as an educational facility. Since not many students would be attending them any longer. In which the public schools would either end up being shut down due to lack of funding, which would result in major job cuts and a higher unemployment rate, since those schools would no longer need as much administration to run the schools and keep control. They also wouldn't need as many teachers on duty, because the classrooms wouldn't be as full. While I believe that at the other end of this situation is the charter, online, boarding, or private school faculty and administration that would also have a negative response to the vouchers being given from the state to lower income children. The educational facilities that the students decide to engage in would end up at some point becoming overcrowded and they would need more teachers and faculty which would enable the faculty that was already there for years to get their pays lowered so that those facilities could be able to handle hiring more people and still being able to keep the facility running.

I believe that the lower income parents may find the voucher idea a good idea because their child is receiving a better education, which is something that every child believe their child deserves and since their parents can't give that to their child at least the child can receive it somehow. but some parents, do not like to accept help from anyone so it may anger those parents who feel that way. While for other parents they may like the idea but it could cause an uproar in commuting schedules, between work and having to take your child to the school they decide on. Also, some of the options for schooling the parents may not feel comfortable with like for example, A boarding school, where the children live in the educational facility, these are only kids and not many parents enjoy being away form children. So it could be hard for them. Another example is an online school, it's possible that some parents may not feel completely comfortable allowing there child to stay at home and trust that they are getting their work done for their courses. The parents of the students who are already in those educational facilities may be enraged my the fact that they pay for their child to attend an on line school, boarding school, private school, etc. Which may make the parents complain to someone of a higher status whether it be in the school or the government which could result in a termination of the program all together.

Whilst, the students opinions may differ from that of the parents and administrators/staff. The children may be worried about what school to pick based on it's reputation or what their friends are deciding, or whether they think they will be able to handle the change, although most children believe that they are invincible and can take on anything. The child may be disappointed if he or she and their friends were to get separated because they both decided on different educational options for schooling, which could make them change their mind in the long run. due to not having the comfort zone that they are so used to always having and not wanting to have to start all over and make new friends. Also, the children that are already in the schools may not feel welcoming towards the students who are knew and from the lower income families that went to public school.

Page 14: #3

By Students being offered choice programs in school it may offer them a broader and 'better' education in the long run. By allowing those lower income families a chance to allow their children to get a private school education could help the child out tremendously in their future. Better education may let those children want to go on and receive higher education which will lead them to have a better paying job, health care and a more comfortable life.
I believe that the program is a good idea and disagree with the author of the passage. They stated that boy states allowing parents to choose which schools they want to send their kids it will cause segregation. I do not believe that the system will cause this, because, it is possible that once the parents and children find out about the program they will inform others within their community and beyond, who will then also know about the program, therefore not just one area of students will be going to a school. Along with it will not only be one social class anymore.
Lastly, by having the program it will allow more views to be expressed in one setting, so children will be exposed to the unknown. Since usually only the high-income children go to private schools. With the voucher being offered to allow parents within the low-income group send their children to provate school there will be a variety of opinions on topics in the classroom. Since not all of the children would be coming from the same social class or background. I believe the state program allows for more diversity within the private school setting.

Questions I came across while reading:

• Why do some states fund lower-income kids to go to private schools when most public schools do not have enough funding?
• The states could (instead of using the money on vouchers for private schools) use the money they are spending to fix and maintain public or state run school.
• If the students are failing in public schools why not just offer a tutoring program, or extra help of some form, or even make sure that the teachers are teaching a way that is easily understandable for the children?
• If the students are failing in public schools what proves to the states that the kids are not going to flunk out in a private school and waste their oppurtunity for the education someone else could have received?