European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 22, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sidelights going Public to vouch for the Best education Clarence Page anew language has entered the world of education. Call it  its proponents speak of a school Choice a the ability of parents to pick their children a schools As a Way to bring about educational a a excellence by forcing schools to a a compete with each other sort of like hamburger franchises and drive the bad schools a out of  the a a vouchers visionaries imagine a world in which parents would receive vouchers for the Money now spent on their children a Public schooling so the poor could shop private and parochial schools like the Rich already do. It is a vision so glorious that support for vouchers has risen dramatically in recent years perhaps most dramatically among poor Black families even though sceptics fear vouchers might Lead to More segregation isolation and misery for poor minority children. A recent poll by the joint Center for political and economic studies a Washington based think tank specializing in Black issues found an astonishing 88 percent of african americans favor education Choice plans that include Public and private schools with the highest support 95 percent coming from africans americans with annual incomes of less than $15,000. A Gallup Survey came Back with similar results 77 percent support among Blacks. Voucher speak became litmus test Lingo in the politics of 1992. During the presidential debates president Bush Phillips Andover class of �?T42 strongly advocated a vouchers a which would allow parents to spend Public Money on tuition to private or religious schools. His opponent Arkansas gov. Bill Clinton hot Springs High school. Class of�?T64also favored a a choices a and a Competition Quot but limited to Public schools. No vouchers. Who a fight a poll released by the Princeton based Carnegie foundation for the advancement of teaching a week before the election shed some Light a and quickly generated political heat. It too found a majority of parents of All races liked the idea of school Choice but Given the Choice 70 percent said they would not swi Tchlo another school Public or private. Only 28 percent said they would. In the 13 states that have statewide open enrolment among Public schools less than 2 percent of eligible parents take part. And in Milwaukee America s Only operating Public and private school voucher program so far fewer than 700 students take part the study notes. Most of the parents who do switch schools according to Carnegie do so for non academic reasons. So much for the Pursuit of educational excellence. Education Secretary Lamar Alexander quickly fired Back a terse 80-word response saying that Carnegie a assessment of 28 percent or 12 million children As a a mild support is a truly  a Only a very self satisfied establishment could so easily dismiss so Many parents wishes a Alexander huffed. Quot would the Berlin Wall still be a Good idea if Only 28 percent of East germans wanted out a hardly. But Only a very self satisfied administration could so easily dismiss Carnegie a reality Check. Maybe the parents know something Washington a deep thinkers Are missing. Maybe vouchers attractive As they May be for some have been vastly oversold As a cure for the nations educational ills. For one thing parents done to a choose private schools so much As private schools choose their students. They Reserve the right to screen out the disabled troublesome or slow learners. The Public cannot. Sure government could attach conditions to their vouchers but  the same conservatives who Call the loudest for vouchers now be the first to howl Over government intrusion later while vouchers will help some  get a better education what about the poor kids left behind even Public school Choice is no bargain if we Only take More resources away from underprivileged schools to pump up the performance numbers of a few showcase  the growing Public outcry for vouchers especially among the poor reflects a growing frustration Over the Savage inequalities that result from funding schools almost completely through local property taxes. You buy your school when you buy your House or rent your apartment and Low income children cooking up ideas to cover All those books Andy Rooney when i suggested to my publisher that the name of my new Book should be Sweet and sour he objected. He said it sounded too much like a chinese Cookbook. I insisted and so far he a right. Its Selling like a chinese Cookbook. There a a lot of evidence that the names of books or movies or anything else for that matter done to have much to do with sales. Who would have thought a Candy bar named baby Ruth would survive for 70 years the thing that really matters is whether the product is any Good or anything the Public wants. This is my 10th Book and in a amazed with that number. I done to recall sitting at my typewriter for that Long. I wrote my first Book with an army Friend named Bud Hutton when i was a reporter for the stars and stripes in London during world War ii. The title of that Book was simple air gunner. It was simple because it was about air gunners on b-17 and b-24 bombers. It Felt wonderful to be a real live author and out of the army. When Bud and i came Home after the War wed finished a second Book about the army newspaper called the Story of the stars and stripes. It Wasny to very Good but an agent took us to Hollywood and within a few Days head sold this Book to Mem for $55,000. We had just cashed our last government checks As army sergeants and it seemed like All the Money in the world. This was 1946. Car production had cease i during the War so we  spend any of our Money on new cars. Bud bought a Beautiful second hand Packard straight 8 convertible and i bought a used sleek Long Black Chrysler new yorker when the new yorker was Chrysler Stop of the line. After a year at Mem Bud and i returned to Europe on assignment for cosmopolitan Magazine Tow now Yoffy Tonos education Boss Lamar Alexander backs vouchers. Suffer the most. Instead of offering a sensible proposal to make All Public schools into a magnets Quot havens of top Quality education the voucher visionaries offer a form of triage that rewards those students whose parents have the most resources in Money enthusiasm or knowledge of the system but does next to nothing for the hard Luck cases who need help the most. Americans have not Given up quite yet on i Lorace Mann a dream of Universal educational Opportunity As the Bedrock of a democratic productive and Safe society. We can still achieve it. The Choice Isoris. Trio Chicago Tabuno which was a different Magazine then i hasten to add than it is today. After 10 weeks in Europe we returned and spent the better part of a year writing a third Book together called conquerors peace. It was not a huge Success even though we were guests on All the big radio shows of those Days. That was the last time i Ever plugged a Book of mine. My position is i write them the publisher Sells them or does no to. In 1962,1 wrote a Hook called the fortunes of War. It was subtitled four great Battles of world War ii. It was beautifully published by Little Brown with a lot of Good pictures. It sold very Well. The history Book of the month club bought it for their Christmas offering. Any Book is satisfying for a writer. My television stuff goes up in smoke and disappears As soon As it has been broadcast but when a writers work is m Book form he can dream of immortality. T he writer can consider in Idle moments the possibility of being discovered on the Back shelves of some Library or in a Dusty attic 100 or 200 years from now. As for my chinese Cookbook a piece of advice to those of you who maybe thinking of writing a Book done to have it published at the same time Madonna comes out w Ith a Book called sex. I just wish id thought of that title Tor mine. In her Case the title makes a difference. Tri Juno  Juo Ichii november 2? 1702 Oun Oay a Page 9