The undercurrent of this opinion piece is as obvious as a rhinocerous in a living room: either one is for vouchers or one is somehow diametrically opposed to school reform. Rubbish. Not a single study was cited in which the efficacy of vouchers as the pervasive and all-encompassing embodiment of school reform is so myopic as to render the piece inane and insipid in tone. From a mere logical premise, the argument is at once specious; there exists myriad ways to get from point A to point B in solving most any social, economic or political dilemna. Secondly, just because parents are allotted school choices does not necessarily guarantee the academic success of their children. LAUSD, the 2nd largest disctrict in the nation, has had an "open schools"policy for years, yet their drop-out rate has increased steadily to the current figure of 50%. This includes magnet and charter schools, as well. If schools have a high teacher-to-student ratio; if schools shut out the parents and the community at large in its decision-making process; if schools do not offer adequate counseling and college prep coursework; if the schools are bankrupted by the No Child Left Behind Act, which ultimately handcuffed their reform attempts, then students may be destined for failure. President Obama did not promise to solve education's problems in his first 100 days. He has said all along that the economy, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and health care will be addressed before education. Still, he has spoken of the need for reform and warned that the process will not be expedient. What the writer dos not take into account is the tangled web of politization that has been a cancer on our public schools. From school boards of elected members to Union chiefs seeking to usurp that power, the American student is the prey captured and immutable on that web. Until large urban schools are de-politicized, and the student's needs once again become paramount, nothing else will have a long-lasting effect on educational reform. If education were a football game, (and some might argue that politicians treat it thusly), vouchers would be viewed as nothing more than the random trick play, designed to momentarily thwart the opposition. It is a band-aid, not a lasting cure to what ails American schools.