With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

Is compromise possible on school vouchers?

Here's a quick news quiz: Who said, "Fully funded vouchers would relieve parents from the terrible choice of leaving their kids in lousy schools or bankrupting themselves to escape those schools"?

If you guessed Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, you're wrong. The correct answer is Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.).

Drawn from a 2003 book that Warren wrote with her daughter, the quote has been making the rounds on right-wing websites. Warren supported vouchers, and now she is flaying DeVos for doing the same! What a hypocrite!

For their part, liberals maintained an embarrassed silence about Warren's comment. Vouchers have become a "dirty word" in the left-wing lexicon, as Warren lamented in her 2003 book.

But Warren and DeVos actually represent different strands of the voucher movement, which used to attract liberals and conservatives alike. So let's pause to consider whether there might be some room for compromise. ... 

Read entire article at philly.com