Opposition to School Voucher Program
School vouchers are being challenged by organizations who believe that by providing this as an option for parents would be the demise of the public education system. Or should I say the demise of the funding of public education and would actually serve private education school system.
To the contrary, the concept behind the voucher program is to provide parents a choice in schools their child attends. Vouchers are a way for parents whose children are attending underperforming schools an opportunity and access to a schools which receive greater funding out of their own local community. It is no secret that underperforming school are most concentrated in communities that have large minority families/students, coupled with access to quality school materials (i.e. books, technology, and in many instances highly qualified educators. Even when parents with children in underperforming schools take it upon themselves to hold schools accountable or rely on states and districts to act in good faith and intervene when schools are failing, empty promises are more often than not are the case.
Lazarin (2013), puts it this way, "The Student Success Act neglects to close a well-known federal loophole that allows districts to allocate fewer total dollars to high-poverty schools compared to more affluent schools. In the grand scheme of things, federal dollars make up a very small portion of school funding—a little more than 10 percent. The bulk of school funding comes from state and local tax dollars" (para. 9).
If a parent (and student) is unsatisfied with the school he/she is attending and has an option and the means to a better school is not unfair for a parent to want their child to attend a school that provide a greater quality and level of academic achievement? It's only fair.
References
Lazarin, M. (18 July 2013). The Sudent Success Act Is the Wrong Way Forward. Retrieved from http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education/news/2013/07/18/70033/the-student-success-act-is-the-wrong-way-forward/
Voucher programs or school choice programs as they are now referred to do not unsure fairness, as a matter of fact educational reform does not seek “fairness” it seeks equality. You are correct that states and districts have failed to act in good faith, when it comes to underfunded, underperforming schools, however, a voucher program does nothing to increase the state or districts accountability, just the opposite. I fear that voucher programs are a political method of funding white flight not seen sense the desegregation of the 60s.
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