The school choice program allows students and parents to have the option for the student to attend a school outside of their district of residence. Parents now have the choice to send their child to a student outside of the area in which they live and pay their taxes. The program allows flexibility for families to best meet the needs of their children by sending them to another public school, private school, or a charter school. This gives parents the opportunity to find a school and education program that best fits the educational needs of their child.
In New Jersey, The Interdistrict Public School Choice Program Act of 2010 was passed by Governor Chris Christie. There are 107 school districts in New Jersey approved as choice districts for the 2013-2014 school year. District participation is optional and would be up to the school districts board of education to participate. Each choice school has a set number of openings per grade level. If more students are requesting admittance to the school then there are openings, students will be chosen by a lottery. Any student in New Jersey may participate in the school choice program. There is an application process for students choosing to participate in the school choice program. Several steps have to be completed for a student to attend a choice school outside of their district. More information can be obtained from www.state.nj.us/education/choice/. The Interdistrict Public School Choice Program Act of 2010 can be viewed at www.state.nj.us/education/choice/law.htm
In the voucher system, the parents are given money from the government that would have gone to their home district school. They are given a certificate which gets placed in an educational savings account for the student. Parents have the option of using the funds towards the tuition and costs of attendance to a private school of choice.
Arguments in favor of school choice:
-Parents can decide which school best serves the needs of their child. Parents have the option of sending their child to a school district that could accommodate their child’s needs better than their home district.
-Children living in under advantaged/low income school districts have access to high-performing school districts. Students from impoverished areas get the same education as middle class areas where the districts may have better educational offerings for students.
-Schools compete for students and must be more responsive to parents and students, leading schools to improve their curriculums and programs to increase student performance. This creates competition amongst school districts, leading schools to produce the best outcomes for students.
Arguments against school choice:
-Shifting of funds from one school to another does not address the problems of the poorly performing schools. The education of the other students attending the home district are still effected by the problems of the poor performance of the home school district.
-School vouchers take money from the public schools for students that choose to attend private schools. Schools are already underfunded and will loose more funds when students go outside of their home district.
-The voucher lottery is a terrible way to determine access to an education. All students show receive the same level of education.
-According to the NEA, the National Education Association, a pure voucher system would only encourage economic, racial, ethnic and religious stratification in our society
There are valid arguments in favor of school choice and against school choice. Both sides provide insight into the school choice program. The student’s educational needs must be taken into consideration as the top priority and families need to make the best decision for their child’s needs. Each child has an individual needs and circumstances.
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