Warren Shya
As the economy continues to seesaw, funding for education becomes an increasingly valuable commodity to be heavily fought over. The issues regarding education are becoming more prominent today as important concerns move to the forefront. Two of these concerns, school choice and school vouchers, are heavily debated as education strives to better create more competitive students while narrowing the achievement gap.
School choice is a term used to describe a variety of educational options that range from public schooling to homeschooling. It is used whenever a child attends a school outside of the one they would have gone to due to school district and local proximity. These educational institutions include other nearby public schools, private schools, charter schools, magnet schools, and much more.
Currently this debate is one of even greater consideration in New Jersey as Governor Christie recently signed the Interdistrict School Choice Program into law September 10th, 2010 (http://www.nj.gov/education/choice). This law allows students to attend a school outside of their school district, provided that the school is participating in the program and is within 20 miles.
Naturally, having choices allow parents to find the most appropriate learning environment for their children. One such argument from supporters of school choice claim that it allows greater freedom for parents in pursuing schools such as ones that greatly focus on certain academic and technical disciplines, provide religious instruction to students, or cater to the needs of a child with special education needs.
Supporters also claim that having a diversity of schools to select from increases the overall competition between schools as they try to stay attractive for prospective students. Those that don’t continue to create innovative curriculums and school programs or address parent demands would ultimately be closed down or restructured.
Depending on the state, parents of students might also be eligible for school vouchers. School vouchers are used to help pay for private school or homeschooling expenses. Advocates claim that this would allow impoverished and underprivileged children to attend the more esteemed private schools, possibly opening new doors and opportunities.
While there is much support for school choice and school vouchers, opponents of these two educational concerns bring up important points. Opponents claim that interjecting a business model design into schools (“Only the strong survive”) is not fair to district public schools as they are obligated by much more legal “red tape” then other schools. Alternative schools such as charter schools are given much more freedom regarding issues dealing with teacher unions and state curriculum.
Private schools are not bound to accept every student that they can provide service for which includes students with special needs. Attracting students with considerable wealth and affluence also lessens the amount of resources that private schools must devote to programs such as reduced-fee lunches or afterschool groups. Furthermore, private schools do not typically receive funding from tax payer dollars allowing them to charge as much as they want from tuition. Opponents of school vouchers cite that it is entirely possible for private schools to shut out underprivileged students through unreasonable tuition or other school related fees.
The debate surrounding school choice and school vouchers is a complicated issue with both sides bringing up realistic concerns. Ultimately, both sides are trying to discover a way to “breed” a more competitive student through narrowing the achievement gap. However this is easier said than done, while all schools are designed to educate children, they each face unique challenges and substantial difficulties.
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