From the Left
By: David Phillips
SCHOOL VOUCHERS
"If parents don't have options
besides public schools, there is no accountability. Accountability without consequences
means nothing….The system needs to be shaken up." President George W. Bush
What is a School Voucher?
A school
voucher, also called an education voucher, is a certificate by which parents
are given the ability to pay for the education of their children at a school of
their choice, rather than the public school to which they were assigned.
So if the
public school to which a child happens to be assigned has very low ratings or
might be in the inner city and run down, a school voucher would give the child
the same chance of a quality education in a private school as the rich kids
whose parents can afford the school.
The idea
is to give the opportunity for a quality education to all who want the chance.
· Parents that are rich enough have a
choice of schools for their kids; Parents, who are not rich enough, do not have
the same choices.
· Private schools offer better
competition between students as well as between other schools.
· Private schools have better
teachers as well as a more diverse curriculum.
· Providing private school access to
everyone will increase diversity.
· There are basically two types of
private schools, Religious and Non-Religious
Sounds
like a great idea, a good school for all who wish to attend, so where is the
down side, this sounds too good to be true.
Why are People Against
This?
· Most of the schools in the voucher
program are religious; government funding violates the 1st Amendment,
separation of church and state.
· Vouchers take funds away from
already under-funded public schools.
· Private schools aren't accountable
to any oversight organization; thus, they may not act responsibly.
· Public schools must accept everyone
regardless of disabilities, test scores, religion, or other characteristics;
private schools can show favoritism or discrimination in selecting students.
Over
ninety five percent of all school vouchers go to religious schools. The
Establishment clause of the 1st Amendment was put in specifically by the
framers to avoid the abuse that inevitably comes with state-sponsored religious
education.
The school
voucher system makes bad schools even worse. By taking away money meant for
public schools and diverting the money into school vouchers, the public schools
cannot keep up with the cost of teachers, books, computers, after school
programs, security, maintenance, etc. So the public schools that need the money
the most are losing when we subsidize private schools.
Private
schools have very little or no government oversight so we don't know how well
private schools will perform.
Public schools are subject to government oversight with more rules and
regulation. Thus, tighter control is placed on the teaching methods and system
of education.
The public
school system in this country varies depending on where you live. If you live
in the Suburbs chances are you will be going to a better school than those that
live in inner cities. But regardless of where you live, ALL public schools
accept all students, regardless of what challenges they present.
Private
schools on the other hand can institute ANY criteria they want for choosing or refusing
students. Thus, they can discriminate or make eligibility standards much more
difficult for poorer students.
“No Child Left Behind”
Is Part of the Problem
In 2001,
right after 911, Congress passed “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB),
which has turned into a miserable failure. According to the Department of
Education over one million students dropped out of High School in 2006.
The NCLB
act requires schools to teach kids to pass standardized tests, schools and
their school districts are required to pass a certain percentage in order to
maintain their federal support. Our schools have gone from teaching our kids
with a much diversified curriculum, to teaching kids in a very narrow course
outline, only to pass a standardized test.
The
Department of Education estimates that more than 7000 students per day are
dropping out of High School this year.
There is
no school voucher program anywhere in our country that can stop all these kids
from dropping out. We need to invest our
tax dollars on public schools not private schools. Our public schools need
better teachers with higher salaries and all must be held accountable for the
jobs they do.
Education is the Silver Bullet for
many of our Country’s Woes
Communities
that have solid educational systems reap many benefits for their efforts. Many
graduates stay in the community and become very productive citizens. Those with
a good education put back into the community, making the community stronger.
Those that graduate high school and continue on with their educations, often
return back to their towns and cities, and become your future Doctors, Lawyers,
Engineers, Businessmen and women.
Communities
with better educated people see less crime. Justice Department data shows that 75
percent of all prison inmates (2.4 million inmates) in the
High
school graduates make more than a quarter of a million dollars more, over their
lifetime when compared to those who do not graduate high school. Source the
The cure
for many of
Keep Government Funds with Public
School System
Government
funds should be kept with the public school systems that take on these challenges
rather than private schools that may discriminate. There is not enough space in
private schools to offer every parent the choice of public or private, and not
everyone wants to attend a private religious school.
In the end
it becomes obvious that our tax dollars for education should focus on the
public school system, the school voucher system is a boondoggle, and in several
states, including
In short,
vouchers will force taxpayers to support two entire education systems -- public
and private. To make things worse, no extra money will be funneled to those
schools that desperately need taxpayer support.
David Phillips is
a Vietnam Era Veteran, a Democratic Party Activist, and David is also the
Publisher and Editor of the online political magazine YodasWorld.org
E-Mail Questions or Comments: oneyoda@aol.com