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Voucher plans are proposed because the public schools are perceived to be failing too many students. The use of vouchers is suggested as a threat to low-achieving schools, although it is not always clear where the responsibility for failure lies. The school and its administrators may not be doing all they could, or the public may be to blame for withholding funds to provide quality schooling. As a first step, there must be better ways of determining if the schools really are failing their students than merely relying on the results of standardized tests. The prosperity of the United States during the 1990s may have resulted from the good job the schools have been doing. The real reasons for low achievement must be determined. If the public schools were funded adequately, there would be little or no talk of vouchers. (SLD) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Cl