Are vouchers good for our schools?

I think increasing parents’ choices for a good education for their child is good up to a point. First I believe we need to determine what needs to be taught in our schools to create well-developed citizens and future workers in our community. I also believe that both public schools and private schools should be held accountable to reach these goals in a child’s education before they graduate. Religious schools and private schools will still hold the freedom to teach what they want, like teaching morals, but at least it will level the education field a little bit if there is at least a minimal level of standards that all schools must adhere to. This way, no matter where the child goes to receive their education they will be taught the same basic skills taught to all other children in all other schools
Vouchers give students the opportunity to go to an alternative school if their school is failing. I support the use of vouchers because I feel every child deserves the right to receive a good education. But what happens to the student that goes to a failing school but his/her parents earn too much to qualify for vouchers but not enough to be able to afford to send their child to an alternative school? What options does this child hold?
The state has to start concentrating more on fixing all schools rather than fight about whether or not vouchers are constitutional. Again, we first we need to determine which critical skills should be taught in all schools and what are the best methods to teach these skills to our students. We also need to identify a way to more successfully turn failing schools around. We also need to impose harsh consequences if schools are not meeting these standards. For example, the vouchers that were given in Washington D.C. were part of a five-year pilot program recently up for renewal. After five years the public schools are still failing. So what was done during the five year period to improve public school education? So what’s going to be done to the schools since they have not improved? The only answer so far is to renew the voucher programs for another period of time. How is that going to fix the main problem, the public schools, in the end?
As Arne Duncan, US Education Secretary, stated in an Edweekly article "We need to be more ambitious. The goal shouldn't be to save a handful of children. The goal should be to dramatically change the opportunity structure for entire neighborhoods of kids." In class we discussed how it would be very difficult to change these schools if the environment around them does not change. I agree with this comment up to a point. I’m sure not all the students given vouchers to attend private schools were all little angels before they switched schools. But once they changed schools they were forced to adapt to their surroundings or they were out. So why can’t we bring these environments into the public schools that already exist?
In the book Taking Sides Charles Glenn argued that parents have a right to choose their child’s education. I agree to this to a point. I believe a parent has the right to choose a safe environment for their kids and also whether they want them to be taught religious views within their education. Any more than that, however, I think should not be left up to the parents. In the same article it mentioned a 1997 survey by the Public Agenda that stated teachers thought “communication with parents important but not in order to learn what education parents wanted for their children. Parents were to be educated or reeducated about how learning ought to be in the classroom.” This was looked down upon but to a point I believe this is true. I believe outside of their child’s safety it’s the right of the teacher to teach what they are supposed to teach in their class. Teachers learn the different learning styles and methods used to teach and should be trusted by the parents to teach their children the best way they know how, much the same way they trust their doctor to know what they are doing as a doctor.
I think we need to inform parents on what we are teaching in the classroom and why so they are included in the process. I do not agree with parents having the right to tell a teacher what should be taught or how. If a parent doesn’t like the teaching methods of a given teacher or school, should the state be expected to pay the cost of moving their child to another school? I think if the state offers too many options to keep parents happy, the real problem is just being swept under the rug, never to be resolved.
I feel offering vouchers should be a last resort to provide improved educational opportunities to students while the failing schools are fixed. Once vouchers are provided to enable students to leave a particular school, that school should be put through an intense rehabilitation so that vouchers would not need to be given for more than a few years. Extended voucher programs hurt our schools because the “urgency” to improve a given school is diminished.
Voucher programs can also hurt our schools because the school is weakened when a number of students are physically removed from the environment. The social ties developed between students that attend school together in elementary, middle and high school are severely disrupted when a portion of the student population uses vouchers to attend a different school. This disruption negatively affects the students’ attitude about their school and their environment.