Could Betsy De Vos solve the Two-Income Trap?

Last updated on: January 14, 2017 at 12:43 pm by Jane the Actuary

Could Betsy De Vos solve the Two-Income Trap? 2017-01-14T12:43:02-06:00 Jane the Actuary

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

from flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/15344079560; by woodleywonderworks

The nomination of Betsy De Vos to head the Department of Education has brought up, again, the question of vouchers and voucher-like systems, at least on twitter and facebook. Here’s what I’ve been thinking.

There are reasonable arguments in favor of and against voucher/schools of choice/charter school systems. On the one hand, these systems create winners and losers, and the loser-school systems bear burdensome legacy costs, if the public schools can’t respond to the situation by upping their game. Parents who can’t transport their kids to a better school lose out too, as do motivated kids with indifferent parents.

On the other hand, to shrug off poor public schools, and lack of family choice, with statements such as, “the parents should just get involved in improving their local public school” is missing the point. In some cases, they may make attempts that are rebuffed by an administration and a teacher’s union that figures that parents have no choice, anyway. Even before that point, the “you should just get involved” presumes that the parents actually have the time and the skill set to do so, and there’s not all that much that parental involvement can remedy. But in most cases, regardless of what they should or shouldn’t do, the practical effect is that those parents respond by moving — the classic “voting with your feet.” And there are all manner of consequences to a system that says, “the only way you can give your child a better school is to move” (or, yes, by sending your child to a parochial or private school, but for most families, that’s not under consideration): poor areas lose families who could stabilize the neighborhood, even if their children aren’t classmates of their neighbors, and wealthier areas see housing prices go up as families are willing to pay escalating prices for the opportunity to send their children to a “good school” — both in terms of quality of instruction and quality of their classmates. And “escalating prices” doesn’t refer just to the cost of real estate taxes, but a sort of bidding war as the top 25th percentile of American families want to get into the top 10th percentile-ranked schools, for example. And as housing prices go up, families increasingly struggle to pay their mortgage — because, much as we’ve deluded ourselves that housing price increases are a matter of wealth-building, the reality is that this is a real burden for families.

There was a book about this, which Amazon tells me is even older than I had remembered: The Two-Income Trap, from 2003. Sure, there’s a lot more to it, but that was a key part of it, as I recall. (And yes, maybe I’ll check this out and re-read it the next time I’m at the library.)

So a more widespread voucher/charter school/school of choice system could have much wider impacts.

Yes, Detroit is bleeding population. And at the same time, the Detroit school system has lost massive numbers of students to non-public schools, or public schools outside of its borders.

What would the city be like if those parents didn’t have these alternative options? Yes, DPS wouldn’t be in such financial straights. But at the same time — and we don’t really know — it seems likely that the population loss among the middle class would have been even greater, that the possibilities of schools outside the DPS system may have held onto families who would have otherwise abandoned Detroit as well. And the city is now trying to bring new middle-class residents into its “midtown” developments, but, again, it would be a pretty tough sell, for families at least, if there weren’t non-DPS options.

So there’s no easy answer. Each alternative — neighborhood schools, i.e., “you get what you get and you don’t throw a fit” vs. mobility options — have real benefits and real costs.

image: from flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/15344079560; by woodleywonderworks

Previous Post

January 14, 2017

Why the adulation?

Next Post

January 15, 2017 Open forum: your predictions, please!

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Actuarial/Retirement Issues Politics Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 December 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 August 2021 June 2021 April 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What prophet, along with Zechariah, encouraged the rebuilding of the Temple?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Obadiah Haggai Elijah Malachi