Iconic economist Milton Friedman (and spiritual leader of conservatives for the last 40 years) is the one that came up with the idea of school vouchers. And the reason why he came up with vouchers was simple: He didn't think educating children was an appropriate role for government.
So, he came up with vouchers, which he clearly stated were a means to ending public schools and replace them with private schools:
"Vouchers are not an end in themselves; they are a means to make a transition from a government to a market system." -Milton Friedman
Repeat Uncle Milties Mantra after me: Vouchers are not an end, they are a means, vouchers are not an end, they are a means, vouchers are not an end, they are a means...
Repeat that about 20 million times and you will know why vouchers are the obsession of the Right.
This chart from the Institute of One Wisconsin diagrams the plan nicely:
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And you know what? The idea of doing away with public schools and replacing them with a voucherized private school system isn't immoral-- it's wrong-headed and wouldn't work, but its not immoral.
What IS immoral is selling vouchers as simply "giving parents choice," when the end-game is to not give parents a choice between public and private schools. When all is said in done, if you live in a metropolitan area you will have a "choice" between religious schools or for-profit schools, but no public schools. If you live in a rural area, you'll get what you get and will have no choice of anything -- and that choice won't be a public school.
Of course, when confronted with this, conservatives like Scott Walker will feign surprise and say that, no, Uncle Miltie was just a crazy uncle that said lots of things... they just want to give parents a choice... because choice is good.
But, we need to look no further than Bradley Foundation, the Milwaukee-based conservative organization that has actually funded far more conservatives causes over the years than the Koch brothers. They're the one's that got vouchers strarted in Wisconsin. And they're also the ones that said that said the public schools were (say in deep scary voice) "Socialism!"
The head of the Bradley Foundation-- Michael Grebe-- is also chair of Scott Walker's campaign. There is no sunlight between these two organizations or their beliefs.
Scott Walker believes that public schools should end and be replaced with a voucherized private school system. Period. We know this because implementing vouchers is like a vet injecting a dog with sodium pentobarbital: The intent is to quietly put the dog to sleep. No, ifs ands or buts.
The only problem is that he doesn't have the courage to tell you that, because he knows that most Wisconsinites love their local public schools.
So, instead, Walker will tell you that this sodium pentobarbital stuff he's injecting into 'Ol Yeller isn't... going... to... hurt... the... dog... a... bit.