Blog Stage 4: Education For All or the Few?

For my political blog critique, I chose the article "Will Vouchers Save the Schools or Starve Them?" which was published on February 28th, 2017 by R.G. Ratcliffe on the Burka Blog which is a subset of the Texas Monthly newspaper.

Ratcliffe's commentary focuses on the debate between those who support 'private school vouchers' versus those who do not. As far as the intended audience, Ratcliffe seems to gear his argument towards those who are in support of private school vouchers as well as those who may be unsure on where to stand regarding the debate. This is evident in his opening by using a recent video that was secretly recording of Texas Senator, Don Huffines, revealing how he had spoken rudely to a group of students and PTA as they debated the controversial vouchers. By adding this at the very beginning, thus essentially undermining the credibility and reliance of a prominent Republican figure who supports Senate Bill 3.

Along with that, this ties directly into the author's credibility. While their argument is sprinkled throughout the article, the majority of it is simply a presentation of both sides of the argument, while still deconstructing the side in favor of the Senate Bill. Ratcliffe furthers his deconstruction of the favoring side by providing statistics of the locations of private schools (specifically in Dallas) to different sections of the proposed bill, revealing how it can become problematic to most families, especially those who live in poorer areas of the city.

Overall the argument is well founded on statistics that prove how the private school vouchers can offer more harm than good. The author even helps clear up where any misinterpretation may arise by helping define what the reality of Senate Bill 3 would actually look like if implemented. Even near the end, the Ratcliffe provides a source from the Texas Tribune which talks about how even other Republicans oppose this bill - which, to me, helps people who may be in favor for it simply because it is a bill proposed by fellow Republicans see how just because their preferred party proposed the bill, does not mean they should support it blindly. All in all, Ratcliffe provides a thorough run-down of the controversy that surrounds this topic, provides both sides of the arguments while still being able to prove and support their view that the private school vouchers will only create more problems for education a a whole.