School Choice or School Vouchers: Is It Good or Bad for Public Education?
Vouchers or Choice? Neither, one, or both? Few topics stir as much debate in the education community as the concept of providing government funded aid or vouchers to parents to send their children to private schools. At it 's most basic level, school choice is a movement focused on affording parents the right to choose which school their children attends. This controversial subject is recurrent in many state legislatures, the federal education community and within all education circles in the United States. The vouchers issue tends to split people into two deeply divided sides those who see vouchers as a valuable opportunity for helping needy children escape failing public schools and poverty stricken neighborhoods and those who see vouchers as taking needed money away from public schools. Public support for vouchers is split. A recent Gallup poll suggests that 46 percent of adults favor vouchers initiatives, and 52 percent oppose them.
Funding from a voucher system could flow into two different types of schools: private or public schools. An array of tough questions arises about parent 's and student 's rights when using public tax dollars for private school. Also at the heart of the controversy is the basic constitutional principal regarding separation of church and state. Some even see vouchers as a threat to the survival of public schools as a whole. Proponents argue that allowing parents of students in low performing schools to transfer to schools with higher test scores will create a competition among schools to develop innovative learning programs in order to retain these students and thus solve the problem of low performance. Based on the free market concept and the principles of competition, the school, operating as a business, must meet the needs of the consumer, parents and students, in order to remain operational. If the school does not meet the need of the students, then parents should have the right to seek better educational
Funding from a voucher system could flow into two different types of schools: private or public schools. An array of tough questions arises about parent 's and student 's rights when using public tax dollars for private school. Also at the heart of the controversy is the basic constitutional principal regarding separation of church and state. Some even see vouchers as a threat to the survival of public schools as a whole. Proponents argue that allowing parents of students in low performing schools to transfer to schools with higher test scores will create a competition among schools to develop innovative learning programs in order to retain these students and thus solve the problem of low performance. Based on the free market concept and the principles of competition, the school, operating as a business, must meet the needs of the consumer, parents and students, in order to remain operational. If the school does not meet the need of the students, then parents should have the right to seek better educational
References: Aguirre, R. (2002, February 9). Vouchers: not about choice but about who has it. Houston Chronicle, pp Garrett, J. (2001, April 30). Do school vouchers improve the quality of education? Capitalism Magazine, 340, 78-84. Greene, J. (2000). Vouchers in charlotte. Retrieved July 25, 2005, from http://www.conservativenews.org. Lyons, C. (2000). Vouchers-the returns are not in yet. Retrieved July 25, 2005, from http://www.cnponline.org. Metcalf, K. (1999). Free market policies and public education. what is the cost of choice? Phi Delta Kappan, V8, 65-75. Peterson, P. (2000). The case for vouchers. Retrieved July 23, 2005, from http://www.hooverdigest.org. Raywid, M. (1987). Public choice, yes; vouchers, no! Phi Delta Kappan, 68, 762-769. Robelen, E. (2003, March 12). Colorado poised to ok vouchers for needy pupils. Education Week, 114, 110-115. Rouse, C. (1997). Private school vouchers and student achievement: an evaluation of the milwaukee parental choice program. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University. Tooley, J. (2002). Education without the state. Newcastle, Australia: University of Newcastle. Witte, J. (1999, September 10). The Milwaukee voucher experiment: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Phi Delta Kappan, 125, 52-60.