It is my opinion that public schools will never be as good as a school voucher system. The reason being, that, especially in the poorer neighborhoods, they currently don't have to
compete for students.
Fact: US students are in the vanguard of world students on tests in the 4th grade.
Fact: US students score in the lowest group at graduation of industrialized nations.
Fact: Despite our poor students, our universities from top to bottom attract international students because of their quality.
My contention: Colleges are better because they have to compete for students.
In poor neighborhoods, parents can neither afford to send their children to private schools, homeschool them, nor move to a better school district. Their only option is to send them to the local public school. I believe that everyone in the US can succeed if they work hard enough, but these children are at a severe disadvantage. Even if we gave these poor schools, for the schools are underfunded also, the same amount that schools in richer counties get, I believe they would still underperform. They don't have to compete for their students. There is no pressure on them to perform. If they privide a low quality education, which they often do, they still get the same number of students. There are no consequences.
A voucher system would reward the schools that provide good education and punish the schools that provide low quality education. The schools that provide good education would attract more students, meaning more money, and they would be able to expand. The schools that lose students will have to reform their policies so that they stop losing students.
People who are against vouchers say that they hurt public schools, and that instead of hurting public schools we should be helping them by giving them more money. The only way public schools would be hurt is if the parents of the students in those schools take their children out because they think their children will recieve a better education elsewhere. If their students will recieve a better education elsewhere, should we stop them from moving their kids? We should instead them choose where their child goes to school. Schools will have to compete for students. In fact, the good public schools in an area will probably grow, while the bad ones will probably shrink. The bad ones will continue to shrink until they change their ways and start providing a good education.
People against school vouchers also say that there would be no market, that parents only option would be current private schools, who's tuition vastly exceeds what any voucher would offer. First off, vouchers would let parents move their child from bad public schools to good public schools. Also, the fact of the matter lies in economic basics. Where there is demand, supply will arise. If there is a market of parents who suddenly have money to spend on their childrens' education, new schools will pop up.
The funny thing is that teacher's unions are against this. There was an interview with the head of a union and he was asked if a voucher system with vouchers worth three times the current amount spent would be better than the current system. He replied that no it would not. The teachers' motives seem obvious to me, they don't want to compete. A voucher system would cut the fat, the bad teachers and maybe some administrators, and they are afraid of this.
Enough talking about the opposition. Let me describe what I think will happen after such a system has been implemented. The good public schools in an area will grow. The bad public schools will shrink. People who have new ideas about education will start new schools and implement them. If the ideas are good, those schools will grow. Inovation will result. There will be competition. Schools will improve.
I'm all for spending more on our youth's education. I just think that this system would be better in the long run. Its main selling point is that it gives poor families the power to choose.
One final point, school vouchers would be especially good if they were made progressive. This would mean that poorer students would recieve more money. This is fair, their parents have less to spend on tuition. The effect of this would be that schools would recruit poorer kids. This would work toward leveling the playing field of life.
Ideas based on similar beliefs:
School Accountability Through Testing
School Choice