School Choice: Long Over-due
This paper reports on my position on school choice, what I believe is the ideal school choice program and the steps that must be taken to successfully implement school choice. First and foremost, the idea of school choice is not a new concept. Those who could afford it always have had school choice. Now as a potential option for more parents, choice will be constricted by the amount of money and the type of resources (transportation, political influence, etc.) one has.
I approve of the idea of school choice that empowers parents to select their children's school. However, as choice is now proposed this empowerment will not happen for all parents. Those with the least amount of money and resources will have the fewest choices. In cases where lower income parents lack transportation to the school of their choice, the nearest school will most likely be their only option. Also, where will the additional money come from when lower class parents do not have enough to pay for the school of their choice?
According to economist Lester Thurow (1996), the middle class was created by the government's investment in education, i.e., GI Bill. School choice seems like the government's way of sharing the wealth with the middle class in addition to providng more schools to choose from. This effort appears to be an attempt at widening the ever-closing gap between the middle class and the lower class (a.k.a. working poor). School vouchers or educational opportunity grants may even entice parents who send their children to private schools to send their children to public charter schools thereby reducing what they now spend on tuition.
Although school choice does not guarantee a quality education or the employability of graduating students, I believe that school choice will offer competition and have a positive influence on operational efficiency. Based upon conditions in some inner-city public schools (crumbling infrastructure, lack of access to technology, few and/or outdated books, etc.), there will probably be even less students in traditional public schools thereby having a positive effect on reducing the classroom size. This could make teaching in a traditional public school more manageable.
In the readings an argument made for school choice was that children who might otherwise fall through the cracks will be given the chance at an education best suited to meet their needs.
School Choice: Followed the ruling on compulsory education. Parents have a right to choose whether their children go to a private, parochial or public school, or they may choose to home-school. Parents must accept any responsibility for their choice.
Good evening family, friends, teachers and fellow graduates. This special night marks our achievement over the past thirteen years. Tonight we come to the top of a mountain in our lives and look ahead to the numerous more to come. It seems like just yesterday we were eighth graders in middle school, wishing we were twelfth graders in high school. (You have to remember that back then we didn't know if a freshman meant you were in twelfth grade or if a junior meant you were in ninth.) We've definitely come a long way to be where we are today. Being students at Wilson, "The School of Pride," has helped us all with our climb over Mt. Education. Learning the basics to climb Mt. Education didn't just start in high school; it began a long, long time ago. Our first experience with the climb started out in our six years of base camp, formally known as elementary school. The next stage in our climb was when we were able to climb the part of the mountain with the gentle slope. The smooth slope of the mountain took us a whole three years to accomplish. As you have probably guessed, the gentle slope was middle school. These were the steps we took to get to our third stage in our climb of reaching the peak of Mt. Education, also known as high school.
To the County High School Class of 2012: As you sit in front of me, I know what most of you are thinking at the moment. There are those who are already pondering about what life without high school will be like; those who are debating whether or not to tell your crush tonight about your whispers of adoration you’ve secretly held for four years; some simply want to get out of that ungodly chair, get that thing that isn’t really a diploma but only tells you when to pick up the thing, and then be the first one on the green bus to the grad party — you know who you are. And the rest, well, the rest aren’t even paying attention, you’re thinking, “Great, here comes one of the valedictorian speakers. Next up: a boring speech straight out of the pits of scholarly hell.” And it’s OK, I don’t mind — that sort of thing comes with the territory. But tonight, I ask that you give me a chance to break that stereotype so that I may address you in the full splendor that you deserve after 13 grueling years of work. I do not want to be known as your “valedictorian” as I stand here, c’mon guys, there is no time left to place labels on people anymore, instead I ask that you accept me as one of your peers — and as a man who will enjoy becoming a graduate alongside you.
Over the past four years, we have grown from insecure, immature freshmen to successful, focused and confident young adults. This incredible transformation has been the result of our entire high school experience. Everything from that first homecoming game, to late night cramming, to the last dance at prom. These experiences have pulled us together as a class and we have learned to love and respect our fellow classmates.
Family, friends, and educators, I would like to thank you all for your support in coming out today to commemorate the Hoover High School Class of 2015 commencement. However, your support today is not where the extent of our gratitude lies, it lies within each and every single day of hard work and motivation that you all put in for my classmates and for myself to be successful. You are the reason that we are able to walk across this stage, and I think it goes without saying that each and every one of them deserve a standing ovation.
Good evening. Some of you out there may not realize this but those of you who attended Suntime Middle School have been with this guy for the last seven years. I would like to ask you all, not just Suntime Middle School grads and who all else, to join me in thanking Mr. Weather for his patience and dedication to the success of our education over the years. We are the Class of 2000. The first graduating class of the new millennium. The past four years have been pretty wild. We started out as a bunch of rats in a small cage, but as time went by we learned and matured and became big rats in a new small cage, but in any case, the cage door is now opening; the handlers turning us wild things loose. As we leave "Where the Wild Things Are," home to some of the best cat fights, fist fights and food fights this side of the Cascades, I have a little surprise for all of you sitting in front of me here tonight in your caps and gowns … we ain’t seen nothing yet!
Guys, I thank you. It has been an honor to serve as your class president. Good luck. Now, I am going to make like America Online Instant Messenger and sign off with an L-O-L. Good bye.
As senior year comes to an end and we walk away from high school into a much bigger and more complicated world, we should not leave our years at Tree without reflecting on time spent here together and remembering what we have observed across the country, especially in the last year.
You have spent the last four years enriching our lives with knowledge and intellect that will remain with us the rest of our lives. But you’ve been more than just educators; you’ve been role models to all of us. You have gone above and beyond what is required of you as a teacher, and your dedication to your careers certainly shows. In fact, I am probably one of the few valedictorians this year that can thank my teachers for NOT threatening to go on strike! You have provided examples of strong leadership, creativity, and Christian character. You have supported us through car accidents and sports injuries, and everything in between. For all of this, we thank
Hello friends, family, and peers. Today I stand before you not as one voice of eighty, but as eighty voices joining into one. Class of 2022, we made it. On this stage, we are not only graduating, but we are taking our next big step in life. We are about to embark on a new adventure. We are going to face things we have never faced before. The future has so much in store for us. So look around, smile, take it all in. Every test we have studied for, every project we have put countless hours into, every single bit of homework that we have stressed over has landed us at this moment.
Throughout our successful lives, though, we can't forget those who struggle and we can't forget to take care of our families and community.
First of all, I'd like to welcome all the parents, relatives and friends, on behalf of the senior class. It has been a long, hard road to graduation and I know your presence here is greatly appreciated. My job as salutatorian is to reminisce on our past here at County High, a past that reads like a script of a soap opera.
Let me begin by saying that I am very honored to be addressing the County High School Class of 2012 as students of this institution for the last time. We've spent these last four years creating some serious memories: four years of chieftain power, leaking roofs, questionable Homecoming skits, and musical principals. Four years of good teachers, bad teachers, new teachers, old teachers. Four years of youth, music, growing up and breaking free. Four rubber chickens, four yearbooks, four ASB presidents and four chubby bunnies.
Class of 2016, congrats to everyone! We did it, and always remember you will always be a piece in the big picture of our puzzle!
Good evening parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, and friends. I would like to thank you all for coming to this very special day. I know how proud you must be. As we have grown over the years, there are many stages we all have gone through. From learning our shapes and colors, to getting our first kiss in middle school, or how about explaining to our parents why we skipped school because the principal called home. As we remember these days, things that we've done will be with us forever. But this is only the start of our journey. The day has come where we say goodbye to the big yellow buses, assemblies, assigned seating, and attendance policies. Are you really gonna miss it? For some of us maybe not right away. But eventually we will so for us to be here it is not necessarily an achievement, but a privilege. All of us have been in school over half our lives. To graduate is one more step we've taken in our lives.