The issue of "choice", like so many other novel educational reform attempts, serve once again to highlight the fact that something is desperately wrong with the current educational system. While everyone seems to be fully aware of the need for change, no one really knows where to start. In the process of making sense of this need to pin down the problems that beset education, many end up latching on to any novel idea that even vaguely offers the hope of finally bringing that educational calm and success everyone so desperately longs for. The problem with this hit-and-run approach is that it almost always ends up fragmenting the communities and societies that should in fact be pooling their energies and resources on the issue of educational reform. Name me ANY reform movement, and I'll show you at least two camps for each of them - one "for", and one "against".
The proponents of educatonal choice have, over time, carefully built up their pool of arguments in support of its implementation. To fully understand this perspective, and before I share mine, I have selected a collection of quotes from various proponents of educational choice which should present, albeit statically, the central issues underlying the concerns of these and many other students, parents, and teachers. In the process of reading them, please try to focus on the issues they represent rather than the emotions that presently drive them.
"It is time to develop political muscle for parents and children. We know that our urban public school systems are hopelessly broken. We know that unless the parents of children in public schools are able to threaten to enroll their children in competing private schools, the public schools will never be held accountable."
"Lessons must be learned from Voucher Bill Defeat", Joseph Walsh
"The most recent National Assessment of Education Progress reading test reports that 30% of high school seniors, 31% of eighth graders, and 42% of fourth graders couldn't reach "basic" reading levels. Those students who have spent from four to thirteen years in school, don't have even "partial mastery" of the reading skills expected at their grade level."
"The High Cost of Rationing Literacy", Martha C. Brown
"There is no more important issue today than the education of our children. We could possibly disagree that our society - crippled by gang violence, teen pregnancy, and welfare dependancy - would experience a Renaissance if every child received quality education?
The idea that vouchers give parents a choice of schools for their children is simply incorrect. The only people who have any real choice in the matter are the private...
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
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.
Its principal means of attempting to objectify its morals are realistic planning — including deadlines, schedules, and objectives— documentation, laws, and regulations, irrespective of its ethical content. Our education system is flawed and outdated, failing to meet the international criterion of our world every day. A traditionally-educated student is not given enough time to learn the limited amount of subjects taught and do not develop a desire to learn. In light of the current situation regarding the education system, there is still hope for students today. An alternative to traditional education, unschooling allows students to use their natural learning abilities, discover and explore more subjects not typically taught in schools, and ignite a genuine, authentic interest to learn. The advantages of unschooling far outweigh its disadvantages, making it the better option for education. Education leaders continue to discuss reforming the present public education system. Instead, they must deliberate about how to replace it. I urge you to take a stand. Start off by writing a letter to your local lawmakers expressing your wish to help students’ education. Share your ideas with a friend. It is not important where you begin, so long as you
Betts, Julian. Getting choice right: ensuring equity and efficiency in education policy. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2005.
“Vouchers lead us away from the basic American tradition of a free, quality public education for every student and undermine the kind of comprehensive, systemic school reform that is working […]” (Tirozzi, 1997). This quote taken from Gerald Tirozzi, the assistant U.S. secretary of education for elementary and secondary education, sums up the issue of vouchers. Milton Friedman, a free-market theorist, introduced vouchers, which funnel public funds to private schools, more than forty years ago (Resnick, 1998).
Wheeler, Timothy. “There’s a Reason They Choose Schools.” National Reviewer 11 Oct. 2007. Rpt. in Practical Argument: A Text and Anthology. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. 2nd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. 618-20. Print.
In the 1990’s the school choice movement gained momentum through John E. Chubb and Terry M. Moe’s bold assumption that “school choice would make it possible to break the iron grip of the adult interest group, unleash the positive power of competition, and achieve academic excellence” (Ravitch 118). Many advocates for school choice share a similar belief in the positive effect school choice and competition create in schools. When comparing the statistics to this notion, however, one finds an opposite conclusion than the one proposed. The school choice approach and the importance of competition in schools generates a stress on both charter schools and district schools to feature high-achieving students and dismiss
Use of School Vouchers 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.
“Literacy is at the heart of a nation’s future . . . and the family is at the heart of literacy. The home is a child’s first school . . . a parent is a child’s first teacher . . . and language is a child’s first subject.”
Have you ever wondered if our education system has flaws? Well in the article “Against School” written by John Taylor Gatto, Gatto once a teacher explains how public education weakens the youth. He starts off the paper by saying how he taught for 30 years, went through a termination, and personally witnessed almost all of the schooling flaws. In Gatto’s article he lists very noticeable names, such as George W. Bush, George Washington, James Bryant Conant, and H.L Mencken to name a few. Having taught children for so long Gatto believes he has the expert rule in this subject. He proposes that to bring out the best qualities in a child you have to let them make decision and let them take their own risks. Gatto’s mission in this article is to make you consider, if school is actually important.
“…we do believe that how we bring up out children has a most profound effect upon how our society is behaving and how we deal with each other as human beings.”
Finally, Holt believes the best thing for children is to eliminate school curriculum altogether. In my opinion, many schools have incorporated many of Holt’s solutions into their curriculum. However, Holt’s illustration of what he believes is a real student is in fact is biased, and often factually incorrect. He fails to see the importance of formal education and instead shames the system that helped lead him to get a degree at one of America’s finest universities. A formal education is a vital part of an independent society. When the people of a nation are well educated, they shape the ways to being
In our society now education is in a state of distress. It has become increasingly difficult to find a way for the education system to work for a variety of students; therefore it has been geared for the masses. It is stunningly clear that very few people have stopped and thought that maybe education should not be for the masses but instead for the students individually.
A time approaches in every person’s life when they must come to learn new things. Speaking on behalf of all those who have attended school at some point in their life, I must say that most do not like it for its educational significance. Today’s youth undervalue the worth of America’s public school system to the point of shame. Hard-working, underpaid teachers and professors prepare to educate these ingrates as their living, and it’s exasperating for the students to not even care. I must be fair though and call attention to the fact that not everyone shares this loathe for education and schooling.