Thursday, October 22, 2009

School Choice and Vouchers

School Choice and Vouchers

School choice is given another alternative with the use of the voucher. If a parent is dissatisfied with the district in which they are assigned, the voucher provides them with a way to improve their child’s education. In the voucher system, parents are given the funds from the city, state, or federal government that would have gone to the public school for their child, in the form of certificates or scholarships. These go into what is essentially an educational savings account, and money is withdrawn to pay for tuition at the parents’ school of choice. This can be any participating public or private school. At the heart of the debate concerning school vouchers are the issues of the separation of church and state, a parent’s right to a say in their child’s education, and the future of American education overall. Vouchers encourage schools to reform in order to attract the parents who have vouchers. Vouchers allow parents to place their children in schools with curricula suited to the parents’ needs or children’s goals.

Those who are in support of the voucher system have many different beliefs as to why. The issue of school choice is centered on money. Wealthier families can afford to send their child to a private school with a great reputation and a strong tradition of successful educational outcomes. Poorer families do not have this luxury. They cannot afford the tuition for these schools, thus their only choice is to send their child to their town’s public schools, regardless of their reputation. Another issue related to money is the actual tuition cost. Parents who are paying for their child to attend a private school have to pay tuition. This tuition cost is paid on top of the taxes they are paying to the public school that their child is not even attending. The vouchers allow the parent to invest only once in their child’s education, instead of the former option.
Competition is also a strong motivator for change. The voucher system provides competition for public schools, and they need to strive for higher efficiency to keep their school successful and productive. It holds them to a higher standard of accountability. Private schools are also a much more expensive option to the public school, yet often chosen regardless because of their reputation for success. Measures of character and academic success are typically higher in private schools. Private schools have accountability, in that if they do not perform to the highest possible standard, they will no longer have students enrolling. Public schools do not have this same accountability, for no matter how poorly they are performing, they will still have a high level of enrollment. Private schools also place a bigger emphasis on life skills and values that benefit social, along with academic, success.
Private schools are, more often than not, filled with children from more affluent families. This leads to an essentially segregated school with very little diversity. The introduction of vouchers allows a more diverse population of learners to enroll in the school, as income would no longer be a barrier. Vouchers, overall, are allowing the disadvantaged child a chance at a better education.

On the opposing side of the argument, since most of the schools in the program are religious, government funding violates the 1st amendment separation of church and state. Over 95% of the vouchers assigned go to religious institutions. Once the government begins to fund religion-dominated education, it is only a matter of time before it begins to fund other religious institutions. This opens the door to a religious dominated society, with the potential to be heavy in discrimination and lack individual freedoms.
Vouchers are put in place to help parents choose what they think is a better education for their child. It is taking the child out of a public school that the parents consider substandard and putting the funds into a school of their choice. Thus, this is essentially taking more money out of already struggling and poorly funded public schools. These schools are already behind in their resources, having trouble affording books, technology, staff support, and security, among many other variables. Taking money away from the schools is only serving to make a bad school worse.
Private schools are chosen for a better reputation than public schools. In reality, they are not held to the same standards as public schools. Public schools are held to strict government regulations, therefore there is tighter control on their teaching methods, curriculum, and system of education.
Private schools establish their own criteria for admitting students to their school. They can make eligibility for entrance into the school difficult for students, effectively cutting out those they do not deem acceptable to their standards. Public schools do not have this option. They have to provide an education for all those eligible that live in their district. Private schools can, and have, discriminated on the basis of prior academic achievement, standardized test scores, interviews with applicants and parents, gender, religion, behavioral history, special needs, and income. Thus, funds from the government should be allocated to these schools that accept all students, even the challenges, as opposed to the schools that have the option to discriminate. Private schools also control their tuition rate. They could easily increase their tuition, making more money for themselves and continuing to make it difficult for a poorer family to attend.
According to the National Education Association, there is no link between educational improvement in students and their use of a voucher to attend a private school. Nor is there any validity that the vouchers create a competitive marketplace and force public schools to improve. The most dramatic improvements occurred in areas where funds were used to improve teacher quality and extra help for students who need it. These areas, including Texas and Connecticut, used this technique and did not have a voucher system in place. Vouchers and voucher-based measures have been placed before voters in 13 states and District of Columbia 22 times. Voters rejected public aid to private schools in each and every vote. In these decisions, two out of every three voters cast a no ballot in response to private schools procuring public aid.
The debate about vouchers is just part of an overall debate. This debate, the most important of all, is how to improve education for all children. Vouchers are just a small piece of the reforms being put in place in an attempt to give our children a better chance at an education. They may not be the best or most effective, but there are some supporters. The systems will continue to thrive until what is considered a better alternative is adopted.

No comments:

Post a Comment