School Vouchers saving America’s Education?
One of the most widely discussed topics in government today is the implementing of school vouchers. Still after all this time to improve, the American school system is in trouble. “According to a recent Wall Street Journal survey, fifty-eight percent of Americans agree that fundamental changes are needed in the public education system, while only one percent argue that no change is necessary.” With this in mind, educators and politicians have looked for different ways to reform the system and provide America’s children with a better chance for a good quality education. Many that are for it know its benefits, but the one’s that are against it wonder its practicality and whether if its actually fulfilling
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This allows the families to choose where and what school their student goes to and whether or not have their tuition fully paid. “After the infamous Brown v. Board of Education case of 1954, the Supreme Court stated, “In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education” They are saying that how can one succeed education wise if they are denied it because they are unable to pay the tuition. “These vouchers are funded by either public (government) or private (corporations, foundations) funds. Scholarships are advocated on the grounds that parental choice and competition between public and private schools will improve education for all children (www.schoolchoices.org).” “More money is put back into the private sector rather than squandered at the Department of Education and other wasteful government …show more content…
I am both for and against issuing school vouchers in California. I am for it because I see how important schooling is in any part of the country especially here in California. Without your education you will pretty much go nowhere in life. Everyone needs an education; even the minimalist of education can benefit someone greatly. It is beneficial for the students in which the funding of this program directly benefits the individual families so they can pick and choose what school they want to go to without having to worry about the cost. Also because these students when deciding to go to a public school in order to further their education, they do not have to worry about scholarships or how they are going to pay to get into the school of their choice because these educational vouchers are the scholarships. I am against it on the other hand because these vouchers are going to be taking away funds from already un-funded public schools. It is also going to be using taxpayer’s money to fund the program. Well not fund the program but just we pay taxes and part of those taxes are for the public schools, the money we pay in taxes will be going to both not just the one that needs it the most. Basically stating that tax payers are going to be paying for other people’s children to go to school rather than just their own and to me that is also not
America has not changed it’s educational system in over two hundred years. For this reason, our students and population are falling further and further behind. Our society has done nothing but move forward, so why hasn’t our learning? Everybody has a story, opinion, or response to education. We need to invest in refining our tools to succeed, to create a better sense of self, and a stronger, more well-rounded nation. The American educational system is hurting students by passing them without merit and relying on standardized tests; however, many are now running back to these hollowed halls to ensure better futures.
The American public school system faces an education crisis. According to Benjamin Barber, American children barely surpass the lowest standards set for education, especially in literacy, throughout the county’s history. Barber supports the existence of this crisis in his essay “America Skips School”, but argues against a solution to remedy the numerous problems facing the system. Although he acknowledges no solution, Barber suggests a smarter flow of financial resources will address many of the issues, however, he fails to acknowledge the distribution of this money. Barber’s suggestion for smarter financial resources for schools can be effectively implemented through a structured committee focused solely on the distribution of money.
There has been a lot of debate recently over the use of school vouchers. Voucher programs offer students attending both public and private schools tuition vouchers. It gives taxpayers the freedom to pick where their tax dollars go. In theory, good schools will thrive with money and bad schools will lose students and close its doors. Most people feel that taking taxpayer money from public schools and using this money as vouchers for private schools is a violation of the constitution. Most private schools in America right now are run by religious organizations.
America’s public school system started off very rough, but through the dedication of many hard-working Americans, it was starting to shape into a system that allowed all children, regardless of race, gender, religion, or nation of origin, to have an education.
She realized that choice and accountability were not the answer, but that curriculum and instruction were more viable solutions to America’s educational dilemma. Ravitch suggests that to abandon public schools is to abandon the institution that supports our concepts of democracy and citizenship and to the promise of American life (Ravitch, 2011, p. 12-14). The idea of school choice is rooted in Milton Friedman’s essay concerning the government’s role in education. Friedman asserted that society should support and contribute to the maximum freedom of the individual or the family. He maintained that the government should provide vouchers to help support parents financially on their children’s education, which parents could use at the school of their choosing; so long as the school met set standards. Therefore, this creation of choice would stimulate competition, which Friedman believed would increase the development and improvement of nonpublic schools, as well as, create a variety of school options (Ravitch, 2011, p. 115). As a result of the choice movement, the public received three versions of school choice: voucher schools, private schools, and charter schools. Each of these schools receives public funding, but do not operate as traditional public schools, and are not managed by a government agency (Ravitch, 2011, p. 121). Charter schools became the most popular choice of this new
The Ohio Vouchers program was created to respond to the failing of Cleveland’s public school system. With this program however, the vouchers are not supporting students to attend public school in the Cleveland school district. The surrounding school districts can accept the vouchers but have not done so since the program has started. This program is hurting the Cleveland public school system by diverting money that should be going to improve public schools but instead being put in private schools which are largely religious schools. The program continues to hurt not only the public school district but also the parents of the students who try to take advantage of the program. Parents are left with no alternative than to choose a nonpublic school and even then a religiously private school.
Why would anyone wish to withhold support for a program that has the potential to revolutionize the, often, insufficient American education system? This question has undoubtedly entered the mind of proponents of education voucher systems across the country. However, despite the pressure placed on legislators everywhere, close scrutiny of the real issues should not be clouded by public fervor. It is my belief that, after a thorough examination of the merits of such programs, school vouchers would be a gross detriment to both the American education system and the nation itself.
Arguments for: This plan gives parents greater control of their children's schooling. It also provides poorer parents an opportunity for private education. The government's role would be confined to ensuring that schools met minimum standards.
With this many students, both state and federal representatives have made efforts to adopt reforms designed to make a solution to the funding inequality. The disproportion of funds first and foremost effects the amount of programs offered to children that vary from basic subjects such as: English, Math, and Science. This created the motivation to improve the quality of education for low-income neighborhoods by targeting resources other than property taxes and redirecting the states budgets. The goal the school districts all shared was the need to increase instruction, add after school activities, promote a well-rounded education, physical innovations to facilities and classrooms, and to update the academic resources. The popular demand that the funding to public education needs to correspond throughout all the school districts. Wealthy tax payers often argue that a region that depends on property taxes is the “American way.” This argument derives from the ideology that American success relies on perseverance and hard work, but if the playing field is uneven the higher born student has an advantage. “High property taxes—the burdens and perverse incentives they create, the rage they generate, the town-to-town school funding inequities they proliferate—…represent an endless New England nightmare…” (Peirce and Johnson, 2006). In the attempt to
One of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's recent education reforms is the two-year pilot program where education vouchers will be offered to poor kids from a district in New York City public schools. These students will be given on average $6,500 a year to pay for tuition at a private school (including religious ones). The money they receive will come from taxpayers.
...he surrounding area are required (and thus get more funding from local property taxes), by law and Education Code, to give a portion of their funding to school districts that are “poor” in order to boost the “poor” school districts performance; this idea of taking from the rich and giving to the poor is why it is dubbed the “Robin Hood” plan (Smith, Schools are Reassigned to Robin Hood, 2011). This bill was the first in a long series of proposed bills that was ruled as a constitutional solution for the 1989 Texas Supreme Court case Edgewood v. Kirby, but it is also the reason for the not only the current lawsuit filed by approximately 600 school districts (both wealthy and poor), but also the 2003 school funding lawsuit (Texas School Finance History, n.d.). It has been ruled unconstitional several times throughout its history, yet it still remains in practice today.
After reading Joel Spring?s book, and reflecting on some of the issues facing our schools, it is apparent that our educational system requires much attention among our nation?s leaders. While the system has transformed in many beneficial ways, we are still plagued by the growing problems of society. I look forward to reading another book by Joel Spring, and developing my evolving understanding of the educational system within the United States.
The basic idea behind vouchers is for the government to use taxpayer money to encourage the transfer of a student from a public school to a private one with the expectation that his performance will improve. That any government official would actually support a program that essentially encourages parents to remove their children from public schools shows that they have no commitment to public education. Consider these arguments:
Some of the advantages to this new public school choice option include: offers a way out of a low performing school, supports educational innovation because it supports alternatives to the traditional school day, school choice can match child and parents needs thus parents will be involved and more committed to the school and their child’s learning experience. (O’Neil, 1996) There are some restrictions when one thinks about the public school choice option. Restrictions include claims that all schools are too crowded, short windows of opportunity for parents to exercise choice, when parent can choose if they want to use school choice or not, and outright restrictions on which schools can participate in public school choice program. (Snell, 2002) Other disadvantages include: create inequalities by taking the more desirable students, fewer opportunities to learn from students of different backgrounds, and changes the focus from education for the public good to education for the private good. Education is no longer being seen as providing ‘some common experience in common se...
Even in this time of struggle, with billions of dollars going towards various war efforts overseas, America still has managed to keep taxpayer investments in education higher than that of funds for national defense (U.S Department of Education). In the 2004-05 school year, there was an estimated amount of 536 billion dollars set aside from taxpayer investment for education purposes. Without a doubt, education is a priority for the American government, and if these funds are used in the correct way, there is no reason why each and every kid in the United States shouldn’t be getting a quality education. However, the organization of the financial system is flawed, funds are not handled proportionately at the state level; rather, this system favors the wealthier districts and hands more funds to them while the less wealthier districts are handed a smaller pool of funds. This really affects America’s quality of education, which also reflects upon how America fairs on the world stage when it comes to competition in education with other countries. The disorganization of funds in the United States can be seen in the Hoover City School district, which has bought every student in that district an iPad for use in school. The first problem with this is that this school district does not even have a viable bus system that can transport students to and from school. Secondly, not even 20 miles from this district lies the Birmingham City School district where a little more than half the students are graduating, compared to Hoover City Schools where a bit more than 90 percent of the students are graduating. If anything, the state should be working towards improving educational standards in lower-income communities rather than debating on the log...