Education: Publically Funded Vouchers to be Used for School Choice

Introduction

School vouchers are an important tool for ensuring school choice and educational equity. By providing parents with a way to send their children to the school of their choice, vouchers give families more control over their childs education. Additionally, vouchers can help to level the playing field between public and private schools by providing students from low-income families with access to higher quality schools. research has shown that school vouchers can improve academic outcomes for students, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. For these reasons, it is clear that school vouchers are an effective way to promote school choice and educational opportunity.

In my own personal opinion based on experience, school vouchers will expand the opportunities for students that otherwise do not have the option of choice financially when it comes to their parents selecting a private school to attend. With them, parents are able to compare public school performance results online and if their children happen to attend an underperforming school, then the vouchers would allow them more flexibility when looking for an alternative program to attend. Having myself attended a combination of public school, a STEM based charter school, home school, and earned early college dual credit, I am a strong supporter of school choice when it comes to maximizing educational opportunities.

More Control

School vouchers provide parents with more control over where they send their children to school. By using vouchers, parents can choose to send their children to private schools, which may offer a better educational experience than public schools. Additionally, private schools typically have smaller class sizes, which can allow for more individualized attention from teachers. They also tend to have more resources, such as state-of-the-art facilities and a wider range of extracurricular activities. But without publicly-funded vouchers, many parents would not have the option of sending their children to private schools where they could receive an excellent education.

Also, vouchers give parents the ability to send their children to religious schools, which can instill values and beliefs that align with the familys religion. This can be really important for parents especially if they feel the public schools are not teaching the kinds of values that they want instilled in their children. In a pluralistic society like the United States, it is important that parents have the freedom to send their children to religious schools if they so choose. Religious schools provide an education that is grounded in principles that many parents feel are important, such as faith, morality, and service. Plus, religious schools often have strong communities of families who share similar values, which can provide children with a supportive environment. Moreover, research has shown that religious schools often outperform secular schools on measures of academic achievement (Alleman, 2015). For all these reasons, parents should be able to send their children to religious schools without restriction.

Moreover, school vouchers provide parents with the flexibility to choose a school that is geographically closer to their home, which can save time and money on transportation costs. Vouchers can also be used to attend a school that offers a specialized curriculum or educational program that is not available at the child's public school. For example, parents who have children with special needs may use vouchers to send their child to a private school that specializes in meeting the needs of students with disabilities. In general, school vouchers provide families with an important tool for finding the best educational fit for their children.

Ultimately, school vouchers give parents more control over their childrens education, which is why they should be used more frequently. They can also lead to more competition, which will ultimately improve the quality of education across the board. As more and more states begin to experiment with voucher programs, it is likely that we will gain a better understanding of the potential benefits of this type of education reform.

States Using Vouchers

As of 2017, 15 states had voucher programs in the US, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (2017). Many of these programs take the form of a choice scholarship program, a needs scholarship program, or an opportunity scholarship program. In other words, the voucher programs are designed to give parents more choice, students more opportunity, and special learners with a better chance to have their needs met.

However, that means 35 states have no school voucher program. In fact, it suggests that the prevailing mood among the majority of states is that voucher programs are a waste of public funds. Indeed, this is the view of the National School Board Association (2022), which is a national organization that supports the position against school vouchers for children as it perceives too much public funding will be diverted away from public education into the private school systems. In other words, oranizations like this one, which are very influential with state...

…witnessing violence, or they may need to work long hours to help support their families. These learners who grow up in communities with high rates of violence are more likely to drop out of school and struggle academically, join gangs, or engage in criminal activity themselves. Neither the communities nor the schools themselves ever improve.

Finally, underperforming schools tend to have less-engaged parents, which can further hamper a childs academic progress. Studies have shown that children whose parents are highly engaged in their schooling tend to outperform those whose parents are less engaged (Howard & Reynolds, 2008). There are a number of reasons for this. First, engaged parents are more likely to be involved in their child's education and to have a better understanding of what their child is learning. They are also more likely to be able to provide support at home, whether it is helping with homework or providing encouragement. Finally, engaged parents are more likely to communicate with the school and to advocate for their child if they feel that they are not making sufficient progress. This is in contrast to less-engaged parents, who are more likely to be disengaged from their child's schooling and less likely to advocate for them.

While there are certainly challenges associated with attending an underperforming school, it is important to remember that all students have the potential to succeed regardless of the school they attend. With hard work and dedication, any learner can overcome the obstacles posed by an underperforming school. Giving students the right to choose where to go for their education would allow them to escape from underperforming schools and receive the quality education they deserve. It would also level the playing field, giving all students an equal chance at success. With so much at stake, it is only fair that students be given the right to choose where they receive their education.

Conclusion

School choice is a popular educational reform that is gaining traction in many countries around the world. The basic premise of school choice is that parents should have the freedom to choose which school their children attend, regardless of their address or economic status. There are a number of advantages to this type of educational system. First, it gives parents a greater say in their children's education. Second, it provides more competition between schools, which can lead to higher quality education overall. Finally, school choice gives learners more control over their own education, and can allow them…