~ In Flint, Michigan on June 16, 2008, Mr. Barack Obama was quoted as saying, "We cannot be satisfied until every child in America - I mean every child - has the same opportunity for a good education that we want for our own children." Dan Lips, of Heritage Foundation, agrees, stating that we must "shift power out of Washington - back to the state and local level, where it's close to parents and students who are affected by its policies." (both quotes found on www.HeritageFoundation.com) Why shouldn't the poor be given an equal opportunity to attend schools whose values are compatible with their own? The voucher system can be seen as an alternative for students who desire a quality education but are in a school system that is performing below standards. As Charles Glenn stated in our text, families "have a fundamental right...to choose the schooling that will shape their children's understanding of the world." (p. 186) When families can't afford to provide a good education for their children, they should be given some options to do so. The EdChoice Scholarship program was designed for students who attend persistently under-performing schools to be able to attend a private school from an approved list of choices that can be found on the web (In Ohio, these can be found on the ODE website).
~ Minorities in the inner city would seem to benefit the most. Looking at the chart "Voucher Use in Cleveland Catholic Schools" as posted in our readings, one can see how many minority students use the voucher program to attend Catholic schools. The increased standards these students achieve would seem to promote the private school choice. As was mentioned in our text in a quote from Jeffrey Grogger and Derek Neal, "urban minorities in Catholic schools fare much better than similar students in public schools." (p. 196) Mr. Peterson attributes this to parental satisfaction and teacher quality. Smaller classes are also beneficial to these students.
~ As more choices for education are presented, it "seems to improve the performance of students who remain in the public schools." (Peterson/Noll's text, p. 196) In "A Win-Win Solution: The Empirical Evidence on How Vouchers Affect Pubic Schools", it was found "that empirical evidence consistently supports the conclusion that vouchers improve public schools." This report collects the results of all available empirical studies on how vouchers affect academic achievement in public schools. Contrary to the widespread claim that vouchers hurt public schools, it finds, "no empirical study has ever found that vouchers had a negative impact on public school" (www.friedmanfoundation.org) Competition may be the foremost incentive for the public schools to improve. When looking at the private sector, competition drives creativity , innovation, and change. A better product or service results because there must be improvement and adaptiom in order to give your customers a reason not to leave you for a better product.
Vouchers can provide choice, a choice which most families desire for their children. Parental satisfaction will be heightened and academic achievement will be elevated. Providing vouchers for families that have no other choice can lead to a win-win situation for all.
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I am glad there are options for parents of children in the Cleveland Schools through EdChoice. Some of their schools are in dire need of help. The teachers would be the first to give you a list of what needs to be changed, because there are good, dedicated teachers working in the schools wanting to make a difference, they do not all work at private schools. One advantage the private school has, as mentioned in class,is that private schools can refuse to admit or keep unruly or badly behaved students. Therefore, the private school has a more stable, learning-oriented atmosphere for its pupils. Public schools must educate all children, which sometimes results in an atmosphere of tension and fear, not a desirable combination when you want students to learn. Vouchers are serving a purpose at this time to help these underprivileged children have a safe place to learn. I would just like to see eyes focus back on the public school and have some serious help for those left behind.I am not sure it is such a
ReplyDelete"win" situation for those still in unsafe public schools.
Nancy, I found the statement about how there is no direct negative effect to be interesting. Yes, there may not be a negative effect by children using vouchers but is there a positive or no effect at all. I think the main concern is there is nothing being done to help the public schools once vouchers are introduced. Normally competition does create creative and often then urges people to do something better. But for compitition to work this way there often have to be a prize in the end or consequences for doing bad. If nothing happens in the end to the winner or the loser and normally, from my experiences, neither side tries any harder to do better then the other and why should they. I think competition is good if we are putting pressure on the schools to do well.
ReplyDeleteBritt,
ReplyDeletePlease note that the "no negative effect" comment was from the Freidman Foundation research, a foundation whose main goal is for freedom of choice, promoting a "free market" in our educational system since 1955, formally founded in 1996. I'm sure there are some negative effects of withdrawing public funding from the schools that need it, but I was taking a stand in support of school vouchers. I do believe that choice is important, but I also support the idea that we need to improve our present public school system. I also think of how Brian has mentioned a few times about what can we do to change the "clientele". How can we teach children 6 to 7 hours a day when they return to home situations where education is not viewed as important, where mediocrity and apathy is acceptable? There are many questions left unanswered.