Research Paper
Brandon Flatt
Cindy Rogers
English 12
October 18, 2013
School Vouchers and the American Education System
Imagine being a parent in an area where the public schools have low average grades and high dropout rates; now imagine that you have a chance to get your child the education they deserve, however, you can not afford it. Many parents face this struggle in the American school system. Parents want their children to get the best education possible; however, it is sometimes hard to afford it. School vouchers allow parents to place their children in any school they want whether it is public or private. “School vouchers are currently only federally funded in Washington D.C.” (Ncsl). School vouchers have become a topic of heated disputes and some agree with them while others do not. In this report, we will be looking at both the pros and cons of school vouchers, how religion is involved, and how they will affect the local school districts.
Schools that participate in the voucher system will have to be chosen to receive government funding. They will be put on a list of government approved schools that students and parents can choose to attend instead of public schools. Chosen schools will have to have programs that make the school different from that of public schools. Examples would be a program for pregnant teens or teen mothers, another example would be programs for special need students. This funding will lead schools to compete against each other and this competition will lead to major advancements in teaching, including new technologies and new ways of teaching. “Charter schools are allowed to experiment with new education.”(Vanderbilt University). The new influx of funding can also lead to new and revolutionary private schools being created and these schools can completely change the way information is taught.
Many parents have different views on how vouchers will affect local schools; some argue that they have no place and others encourage a change in the school system. All parents want the best for their children and for low income families living in areas with dangerous schools, vouchers offer a chance to give their children the education they deserve. Some parents however view the voucher system as a way of avoiding an obvious problem with the public school system. These parents believe that instead of spending large amounts of money on vouchers, the government should instead invest the money in reforming the public school system.
Religion is playing a massive part in whether or not school vouchers are accepted. There is much debate whether or not religious private schools offer better education than traditional public schools. Religious private schools do not follow the same guidelines as public schools. They may discriminate when hiring, for instance, only hiring teachers that are members of a certain church. Another major difference is that religious schools do not have to have certified teachers. Also private schools can hire whomever they want so long as the person passes a background check. These schools also incorporate religious stereotypes into their education and this can take away from the overall education of a school.
Religion and government have been separated since this country was founded and it is unconstitutional under any circumstance to combine the two. This poses another problem to school vouchers; how can the government fund a religious school when doing so would violate the 1st Amendment? Many parents would like to use school vouchers to place their children in private religious schools, however; others claim that this would be unconstitutional. It is not right for the government to expect taxpayers to pay for a religious run program. Another problem is that religious schools force students to attend religious classes and services; this violates freedom of religion because the schools force religion on students. This is one reason why religion is playing a big part in the acceptance of school vouchers.
There are many pros and cons to accepting the school voucher system, the pros and cons have led to heated disputes over the acceptance of school vouchers. One obvious pro to accepting the voucher system is that it will give equal opportunity to all students regardless of their ability to afford private schools. Another pro might be that students and parents will have a choice of listed schools in the area. Vouchers also encourage competition between schools and this will lead to reforms in the school system. The use of vouchers will lead to money making its way back into the private sector, instead of the Department of Education.
When it comes to the education received in private schools, there are even more pros to school vouchers. An increase in attendance of private schools will lead to the creation of new schools, as well as the maintenance of high quality teaching, to competing with other schools. Parents will pose the ability to remove their child from one school and place them in another. This ability will lead to an increase in the quality of schools, as well as the quality of their education. In addition, if vouchers were accepted then the school system would be able to do away with the mandatory government imposed testing. These tests were used to allocate funding to public schools, however, they do not exist in the private school system.
There are pros to the voucher system, but there are also many negative effects, especially when it comes to funding. For instance, the government is prepared to use $250 million dollars to fund the school voucher system, when instead they could use this money to reform the current public school systems. “School vouchers are education tax dollars that typically are diverted from public schools in order to help subsidize the tuition of private and religious school students”(NSBA) The government is using the voucher system as a way to overlook the public school system that is in desperate need of reform. “Vouchers distract from the real issue of reform” This statement was written by (Margaret Suslick) an author for the National School Boards Association. Another flaw with vouchers is that they will take more money away from already dwindling public school funding. This in turn will lead to money that would be used to improve public schools being taken away.
There are also many flaws in the voucher system, when it comes to how the vouchers will be distributed. Many believe that vouchers will be easily obtained and children will be saved from public schools, however, currently if the voucher system is put in place only a small number of students will be allowed to enroll in private schools using the vouchers. “The poor do not have the ability to choose their own schools because they do not have the money to put the children in private school.”(Perry 221) This means that many other students not chosen to receive funding and unable to afford private school will be stuck in a public school system that is in need of reform and has very little funding. These students will come from only low income families, however, these families are not the only ones unable to afford private school; many middleclass families that have multiple children may not be able to afford private schools, therefore, the voucher system would be unfair to the middleclass. This has become one of the biggest problems in the voucher system, low wealth families will receive government funding to attend private school and high wealth families can afford to pay for private school, this leaves mid wealth families with the problem that some will not be able to afford private school tuitions.
There are more flaws in the school voucher system in regards to the quality of private schools. Many parents believe that private schools offer a better education, based on average testing scores, however with the increased number of students attending private schools, these test scores may fall due to an influx of less gifted students. This means that if vouchers are implemented private schools may end up with the same problems as the local public schools. Students attending private schools will also be forced to obey even stricter rules, then public school. “Students that transfer from public to private schools are put under stiffer rules these rules are supposed to help students with learning however, research shows that overall this information is untrue.” (Ronald G. and Joe Scheider 18) Many parents believe that stricter rules in private schools are the price to pay for better education, however, there is a chance that the stricter rules will be for nothing if an influx of new students brings down the average class size and average test scores of a school. A graph depicting Public school test scores to those of private school voucher students in an Ohio state run voucher system can be found by seeing Chart 1.
To sum up, school vouchers are supported and opposed by many and if implemented they will have a drastic effect on the way education is taught. Vouchers can give opportunities for better education to many low-income families, however; they may leave other more fortunate families at a disadvantage. School vouchers seem like a good idea; however, many believe it is simply a way for the government to overlook the much needed reform of the American school system. Religion will play a big part in the acceptance of school vouchers; many agree that using government-funded vouchers to pay for school at a religious institution would violate the first amendment. The support of religious private schools has become the subject of heated debates and many do not support school vouchers because of it.
Vouchers offer many benefits, such as giving a choice of what schools they want to send their children to attend; however, they also have many flaws especially when it comes to financing vouchers and the quality of schools. Vouchers will offer parents a chance to place their children in whichever local school they want. Even parents that are low income will be able to give their children a better education. The government will spend large sums of money, money that they could use to reform the current public school system. Vouchers may also degrade the quality of private schools by increasing class sizes as well as adding a large influx of students that may be less gifted.
The governments funding of the school voucher system may lead to better education for many less fortunate students. They might also lead to new technologies and ways of teaching in the school system. Although the voucher system has its flaws, such as government funding of a religious institute or the fact that the government is overlooking the public school system in need of reform, vouchers have a chance to better education for many. Vouchers cause many heated arguments between those who agree with them and those who do not. School vouchers have shown that they have many pros and cons as well as how religion affects them; however, school vouchers have shown that the biggest change in all will be to local school systems.
Bibliography
Balmer, Randall Herbert. Thy Kingdom Come: How the Religious Right Distorts the Faith and Threatens America. New York: Basic, 2007. Print.
Corwin, Ronald G., and Joe Schneider. The School Choice Hoax: Fixing America's Schools. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2007. Print.
Marshall, Ken. "Percentage of student at or above proficient level." Ohio Department of Education. Ohio Depatment of education, n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2013. <http://education.ohio.gov/>.
Perry, Steve. Push Has Come to Shove: Getting Our Kids the Education They Deserve--even If It Means Picking a Fight. New York: Broadway Paperbacks, 2011. Print.
Reason TV “New Orleans School Voucher Program” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, Aug 18, 2010. Sep 19, 2013.
"School Vouchers." School Choice: Vouchers. National Conference of State LegisLatures, n.d. Web . 19 Sept. 2013. <http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/educ/school-choice-vouchers.aspx>.
"School Vouchers." School Vouchers. National School Boards Association, n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2013. <http://www.nsba.org/Advocacy/Key-Issues/SchoolVouchers>.
"Vouchers." Rss. National Education Association, n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2013. <http://www.nea.org/home/16378.htm>.
VanderbiltUniversity “Options in Education: School Vouchers - What the Research Shows” Online video clip. YouTube. Youtube, Feb 11, 2013. Sep 19, 2013.
Cindy Rogers
English 12
October 18, 2013
School Vouchers and the American Education System
Imagine being a parent in an area where the public schools have low average grades and high dropout rates; now imagine that you have a chance to get your child the education they deserve, however, you can not afford it. Many parents face this struggle in the American school system. Parents want their children to get the best education possible; however, it is sometimes hard to afford it. School vouchers allow parents to place their children in any school they want whether it is public or private. “School vouchers are currently only federally funded in Washington D.C.” (Ncsl). School vouchers have become a topic of heated disputes and some agree with them while others do not. In this report, we will be looking at both the pros and cons of school vouchers, how religion is involved, and how they will affect the local school districts.
Schools that participate in the voucher system will have to be chosen to receive government funding. They will be put on a list of government approved schools that students and parents can choose to attend instead of public schools. Chosen schools will have to have programs that make the school different from that of public schools. Examples would be a program for pregnant teens or teen mothers, another example would be programs for special need students. This funding will lead schools to compete against each other and this competition will lead to major advancements in teaching, including new technologies and new ways of teaching. “Charter schools are allowed to experiment with new education.”(Vanderbilt University). The new influx of funding can also lead to new and revolutionary private schools being created and these schools can completely change the way information is taught.
Many parents have different views on how vouchers will affect local schools; some argue that they have no place and others encourage a change in the school system. All parents want the best for their children and for low income families living in areas with dangerous schools, vouchers offer a chance to give their children the education they deserve. Some parents however view the voucher system as a way of avoiding an obvious problem with the public school system. These parents believe that instead of spending large amounts of money on vouchers, the government should instead invest the money in reforming the public school system.
Religion is playing a massive part in whether or not school vouchers are accepted. There is much debate whether or not religious private schools offer better education than traditional public schools. Religious private schools do not follow the same guidelines as public schools. They may discriminate when hiring, for instance, only hiring teachers that are members of a certain church. Another major difference is that religious schools do not have to have certified teachers. Also private schools can hire whomever they want so long as the person passes a background check. These schools also incorporate religious stereotypes into their education and this can take away from the overall education of a school.
Religion and government have been separated since this country was founded and it is unconstitutional under any circumstance to combine the two. This poses another problem to school vouchers; how can the government fund a religious school when doing so would violate the 1st Amendment? Many parents would like to use school vouchers to place their children in private religious schools, however; others claim that this would be unconstitutional. It is not right for the government to expect taxpayers to pay for a religious run program. Another problem is that religious schools force students to attend religious classes and services; this violates freedom of religion because the schools force religion on students. This is one reason why religion is playing a big part in the acceptance of school vouchers.
There are many pros and cons to accepting the school voucher system, the pros and cons have led to heated disputes over the acceptance of school vouchers. One obvious pro to accepting the voucher system is that it will give equal opportunity to all students regardless of their ability to afford private schools. Another pro might be that students and parents will have a choice of listed schools in the area. Vouchers also encourage competition between schools and this will lead to reforms in the school system. The use of vouchers will lead to money making its way back into the private sector, instead of the Department of Education.
When it comes to the education received in private schools, there are even more pros to school vouchers. An increase in attendance of private schools will lead to the creation of new schools, as well as the maintenance of high quality teaching, to competing with other schools. Parents will pose the ability to remove their child from one school and place them in another. This ability will lead to an increase in the quality of schools, as well as the quality of their education. In addition, if vouchers were accepted then the school system would be able to do away with the mandatory government imposed testing. These tests were used to allocate funding to public schools, however, they do not exist in the private school system.
There are pros to the voucher system, but there are also many negative effects, especially when it comes to funding. For instance, the government is prepared to use $250 million dollars to fund the school voucher system, when instead they could use this money to reform the current public school systems. “School vouchers are education tax dollars that typically are diverted from public schools in order to help subsidize the tuition of private and religious school students”(NSBA) The government is using the voucher system as a way to overlook the public school system that is in desperate need of reform. “Vouchers distract from the real issue of reform” This statement was written by (Margaret Suslick) an author for the National School Boards Association. Another flaw with vouchers is that they will take more money away from already dwindling public school funding. This in turn will lead to money that would be used to improve public schools being taken away.
There are also many flaws in the voucher system, when it comes to how the vouchers will be distributed. Many believe that vouchers will be easily obtained and children will be saved from public schools, however, currently if the voucher system is put in place only a small number of students will be allowed to enroll in private schools using the vouchers. “The poor do not have the ability to choose their own schools because they do not have the money to put the children in private school.”(Perry 221) This means that many other students not chosen to receive funding and unable to afford private school will be stuck in a public school system that is in need of reform and has very little funding. These students will come from only low income families, however, these families are not the only ones unable to afford private school; many middleclass families that have multiple children may not be able to afford private schools, therefore, the voucher system would be unfair to the middleclass. This has become one of the biggest problems in the voucher system, low wealth families will receive government funding to attend private school and high wealth families can afford to pay for private school, this leaves mid wealth families with the problem that some will not be able to afford private school tuitions.
There are more flaws in the school voucher system in regards to the quality of private schools. Many parents believe that private schools offer a better education, based on average testing scores, however with the increased number of students attending private schools, these test scores may fall due to an influx of less gifted students. This means that if vouchers are implemented private schools may end up with the same problems as the local public schools. Students attending private schools will also be forced to obey even stricter rules, then public school. “Students that transfer from public to private schools are put under stiffer rules these rules are supposed to help students with learning however, research shows that overall this information is untrue.” (Ronald G. and Joe Scheider 18) Many parents believe that stricter rules in private schools are the price to pay for better education, however, there is a chance that the stricter rules will be for nothing if an influx of new students brings down the average class size and average test scores of a school. A graph depicting Public school test scores to those of private school voucher students in an Ohio state run voucher system can be found by seeing Chart 1.
To sum up, school vouchers are supported and opposed by many and if implemented they will have a drastic effect on the way education is taught. Vouchers can give opportunities for better education to many low-income families, however; they may leave other more fortunate families at a disadvantage. School vouchers seem like a good idea; however, many believe it is simply a way for the government to overlook the much needed reform of the American school system. Religion will play a big part in the acceptance of school vouchers; many agree that using government-funded vouchers to pay for school at a religious institution would violate the first amendment. The support of religious private schools has become the subject of heated debates and many do not support school vouchers because of it.
Vouchers offer many benefits, such as giving a choice of what schools they want to send their children to attend; however, they also have many flaws especially when it comes to financing vouchers and the quality of schools. Vouchers will offer parents a chance to place their children in whichever local school they want. Even parents that are low income will be able to give their children a better education. The government will spend large sums of money, money that they could use to reform the current public school system. Vouchers may also degrade the quality of private schools by increasing class sizes as well as adding a large influx of students that may be less gifted.
The governments funding of the school voucher system may lead to better education for many less fortunate students. They might also lead to new technologies and ways of teaching in the school system. Although the voucher system has its flaws, such as government funding of a religious institute or the fact that the government is overlooking the public school system in need of reform, vouchers have a chance to better education for many. Vouchers cause many heated arguments between those who agree with them and those who do not. School vouchers have shown that they have many pros and cons as well as how religion affects them; however, school vouchers have shown that the biggest change in all will be to local school systems.
Bibliography
Balmer, Randall Herbert. Thy Kingdom Come: How the Religious Right Distorts the Faith and Threatens America. New York: Basic, 2007. Print.
Corwin, Ronald G., and Joe Schneider. The School Choice Hoax: Fixing America's Schools. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2007. Print.
Marshall, Ken. "Percentage of student at or above proficient level." Ohio Department of Education. Ohio Depatment of education, n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2013. <http://education.ohio.gov/>.
Perry, Steve. Push Has Come to Shove: Getting Our Kids the Education They Deserve--even If It Means Picking a Fight. New York: Broadway Paperbacks, 2011. Print.
Reason TV “New Orleans School Voucher Program” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, Aug 18, 2010. Sep 19, 2013.
"School Vouchers." School Choice: Vouchers. National Conference of State LegisLatures, n.d. Web . 19 Sept. 2013. <http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/educ/school-choice-vouchers.aspx>.
"School Vouchers." School Vouchers. National School Boards Association, n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2013. <http://www.nsba.org/Advocacy/Key-Issues/SchoolVouchers>.
"Vouchers." Rss. National Education Association, n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2013. <http://www.nea.org/home/16378.htm>.
VanderbiltUniversity “Options in Education: School Vouchers - What the Research Shows” Online video clip. YouTube. Youtube, Feb 11, 2013. Sep 19, 2013.