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I am tired of the voucher issue. You know what I mean—the pitched political battle over whether to let parents take the tax dollars spent on their kids in public schools and use them as scholarships to attend private schools.

I don’t see anything wrong with the idea itself. When I am faced with complicated political questions, I try to reduce them to conversations with the people most affected. In this case, I imagine what I would say to a single mother living in southeast DC and working as a house cleaner. I must persuade her that it would be a bad idea for the government to give her money so that she could transfer her child from his D.C. public school to a private school, like the Baptist-oriented Nannie Helen Burroughs School in Northeast DC.

I could not think of a single thing to say that would not leave me feeling guilty and deceitful. The usual argument against vouchers—that they drain needed funds from the public system—would make no sense to that mom. She was entitled to a good public education, but her local school was terrible, so the government had not kept its promise. I could not in good conscience argue that she should sacrifice her child’s education, and his future, so that DCPS could continue to spend its tax dollars on inadequate schools. And indeed, it seemed to me, if her child was no longer at the local school, that would reduce class size and perhaps give his teacher more time to focus on the other students.

So I am happy for that mom who gets to put her child in Nannie Burroughs, a well run school that charges far less than the maximum $7,500 a year under the DC voucher program. But I do not think such programs are going to solve our education crisis. What we need is more good teaching in the public schools, not a mass exodus to the private schools. I am not convinced that the teaching in the private schools is, on average, any better.

But the two major political parties find it very hard to drop the voucher issue. It is perfect for them. Its free market aspects thrill the Republican base. Its drain-the-public-schools aspects enrage the Democratic base. They can raise money on that issue forever, while in the meantime not doing much for schools.

 We Americans mostly like our local schools. Even most low-income
Americans feel that way. Few of us are willing to go the voucher route. It is too risky, and too inconvenient. That is one reason why state initiatives supporting vouchers often lose.

So we have to make the local schools better, not force poor mothers—like one I wrote about—to take her several children each morning on a 45 minute bus ride to get to a private school where she can use her vouchers. The best way to do that, I think, is encourage the current blossoming of independent charter schools in DC, and other cities.

Charter school teachers are still in the public system, but have the freedom to focus instruction, try new ideas, and make sure everything they do affects students’ achievement. And in many cases, they can be good examples to the regular public schools in the same neighborhood.

Charters are no fun for the parties. They make too much sense to both Republicans and Democrats, and cannot be used to spark big fights. But they are the better bet. So let’s let voucher systems go forward in those few places where they can get the necessary support, but put our money into charter schools. They can use it, and they will do good things with it. And those that don’t can be quickly closed and replaced with a better charter.

Jay Mathews is an education reporter and online columnist with the Washington Post.