Dang, this was a long time ago, I now see, as I scroll back up to the top of the page here to check the date. This comment will most likely hang here in oblivion, like a little post-it note, stuck on the lip of a dusty old virtual cubbyhole in a closed-up schoolhouse. But then it would fall off, and nobody could read it, not even now, whenever it may be. So I guess it is not really like that but something else. But the thing is, I've just recently (my now is 9/23/08)stumbled upon SA and am just poking around here and there, and since he is so out there as a "commie," to find even this reluctant advocacy of vouchers is kind of satisfying for me as I have been comparing my own politics with his, and puzzling over how someone who so intrigues me can hold ideas so juxtaposed to mine. I am astounded at the honesty, frankly. Liberals usually become so self-deluded they go totally Orwellian. So I guess, just "wow."

I feel like there is more that Mr. Alexie needs to say on this issue for those of us that struggle with the concept of vouchers. Last year I worked in a public school in Utah and the biggest problem I encountered was with the small but loud number of kids that don't come to school to learn, but to socialize. Discipline and motivation is the problem, and while some private intitutions might solve that for some kids, I still wonder what the effect of taking the kids that would want to go to a private school out of these public institutions. Would it dumb down and make the public schools even worse? I, like Alexie, am not quite sure where I stand on this issue. My gut tells me not to support vouchers, but if I was the kid that wanted a better chance for myself and a private school was just out of my reach, then a voucher would seem like a golden key. Not an easy question. Thanks to Mr. Alexie for putting the dilema out there, though for me it remains unsolved.