While researching solutions to better secondary education, I came across a couple posts on blog sites addressing the issue of education vouchers. Not knowing much about the proposed voucher solution, I dug deep to find out exactly how these vouchers work toward improving schools. I found that the idea behind vouchers is that if children and parents are giving the choice of what school the child would like to attend, then those schools that are not being chosen will be forced to improve.One particular blog really persuaded me in my position on vouchers. In his post Voucher Legislation in Arizona, John Wright not only points out the faults in the voucher system, but he also provides suggestions alternate ways of improving our public education system.
Another blogger advocates the voucher system. Chuck Muth's strong opinions in his post entitled School Choice Shot Heard 'Round the World are quite moving but fail to address the problems the voucher system causes.
I have included my responses to both blogs below and hope that you will follow the links to read what they have to say on the subject.
Comment: The voucher system is a great suggestion... in the sense that we need to look at different options and assess their viability in order to come up with the best solution possible. Your argument is strong because it not only points out the problems with vouchers, but also provides alternatives. It makes so much sense that instead of taking tax-payer funding and rewarding children who win a lottery, we take tax-payer funding and invest in the schools that are sub-par. This way, everyone benefits, not just a lucky few.
It seems that those who oppose vouchers suggest that we threaten to take away students and funding if they do not pass a set of tests. How can taking away means for a quality school possibly improve that institution? Rather, I completely agree that we should spend the money as you suggested: reducing class size, starting new programming, holding teachers to higher standards, and also providing the child more than an education.Not to say that I cannot see the appeal of vouchers; "school choice" sounds perfectly amazing. It would be great if any child and his parents could choose what school he attends, but that isn't what the current education vouchers allow. Instead, they give a very small percentage of students that choice, leaving the rest to a disadvantaged school which is going to lose even more funding because of its lack of efficiency. It is as though we are making good schools better and bad schools worse. Is this fair to those students who are never offered the chance to get out of those bad schools?
As I mentioned before, we should thank those who support vouchers for helping us better understand what we must do in order to get all schools on the right path. Proponents of the voucher system have good intentions, but their plan falters and leaves us seeking new and better ways to improve schools.
Comment: The argument that school vouchers provide a solution to the weak school system is definitely full of holes. I appreciate the sense of ugency in passing legislation to improve the public school system, but I feel that throwing money into the voucher system may do more harm than good.
First of all, your argument that we need to "attain an educated populace," but not necessarily through public schools, sounds to me that you are suggesting we should invest more in privatized education. Forgive me for not understanding, but if our nation turns to privatizing education, what are we doing for those students whose families will never be able to afford sending their kids to highly-priced schools? To this, you may answer: "Well, that's what the vouchers are for!" But as of right now, vouchers are only handed out on a lottery basis. Further, sometimes they only provide half the cost of a private education--undoubtedly insufficient for some families.
On another note, I am also failing to understand your comparison between secondary education vouchers and those provided by the G.I. Bill. The G.I. Bill rewards citizens who volunteer and risk their lives to serve in our military. Considering the lack of interest most young people have in our nation's defense, providing incentives is imperative. Giving a free education for years' worth of risking one's life for the good of our country is hardly enough to pay soldiers back for their dedication. It would be completely insensitive to argue that we shouldn't have this bill.
Secondary educatioin vouchers are different though. We are rewarding students on a random lottery basis, which, yes, rewards those lucky students, but it also punishes the unlucky ones. You said that those working with you on this initiative have children of their own. How can you guarantee them that their student will be given a voucher? Do you think they would feel differently if they supported this, only to miss out on the vouchers and have their children left behind in the sub-par school? I think not.
1 comments:
This is a very interesting blog as I have battled with the issue of vouchers myself. After doing much research and debate in my public policy classes I have began to shape my own views on the voucher issue. I agree with you that it is not fair to give vouchers to only the “lucky few” who win the lottery. I agree with your argument that this type of policy does not promote fairness, nor does it reward hard working students. I also agree with you that the current voucher policy’s that have been proposed have generally been flawed. On the other hand, I would not say that the idea in itself is bad. I still am a big supporter of vouchers assuming they are done right. By “doing them right” I mean that all students should have access to vouchers. They should not simply cover “half the cost of a typical private school”, I believe they should cover the entire cost of an average private school (and then if the parents wish to send their children to a school that is even more expensive, they have to pay out of pocket).
I also acknowledge that the point behind vouchers from a performance measure is that “if children and parents are giving the choice of what school the child would like to attend, then those schools that are not being chosen will be forced to improve”. However, I think it is also important to recognize the intrinsic value of giving parents the opportunity to choose where they want to send their children to school. For example, if a parent wants to send their children to a religious based school, but cannot afford it, they would now have that opportunity.
I also believe that from a taxpayer point of view, the voucher system is more fair, as you are being given the choice of where to spend your taxpayer money, and those who do send their children to private school would no longer “pay twice” in essence”
In summary, I agree with you that the lottery system is an unjust, unfair system that might punish good students who would love to go to a great school but who are not “selected”. On the other hand, I think that it is very possible to create a feasible voucher policy that would address the issues we have identified; however at this time, I have yet to see one proposed. I believe that this would be a great way to give the students who want to excel, the tools to succeed in the future.
Post a Comment