Academic Competition: School Vouchers Do Not Harm Public School Quality
School vouchers are a topic of great importance and controversy. They help us to understand how education works in today's school system. People believe that school vouchers, which are essentially governmentally funded coupons that help parents put their child or children in the school of their choice, harm public schools and the way they are funded by the government. Whether it's a run of the mill public school or a high dollar overly funded private school, school vouchers enable parents to have a choice and perhaps that is the most important aspect of them. I don't think private schools receiving school vouchers are harming public schools because the student success rate of private schools is more than that of public, this acts as motivation for public schools to improve their student success rate, because as we all know schools compete with one another.
Acording to the US English dictionary, "school vouchers are government-funded vouchers redeemable for tuition fees at a school other than a public school that a student could attend free". There are a few issues people tend to have with school vouchers, the first I will list and quite possibly the most important is that school vouchers, " violate the separation of church and state". "In the First Amendments Establishment clause it states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion". Our country was made what it is today on the idea that people could be and should be free. To practice his or her religion without fear of being slandered or looked down on.
If you open your wallet and take out a dollar, it will read "In God We Trust", is this not also violating the separation of church and state to some degree? The majority of Americans are of Christain faith, in fact acording to H.G. Koenig and S. Al Shohaib, Health and well-Being in Islamic Societies:Background, Research, and Applications, Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014. 94% of US citizens practice christian religion and the United States has a greater christian population than any other country at 11.3% of the world's Christian population, . So I ask why are governmentally funded school voucher programs which can be used to send your child to a private school such a bad thing? Especially when they are being paid for with tax dollars.
The second problem with this subject that I will address is the act of competition in education. It's no secret that schools compete with each other. Whether it's football, a marching band, or test scores they compete. It is a simple fact that they always have and always will. When I drive down the road I can see a CVS pharmacy on one side, and I can see a Wall-greens on the other side. I can see a Catholic church on one side of the street and a Baptist church on the other. My point being that every one, every company and small or large scale buisness competes with one another, this is even apparent in religious establishments.
They do it to gain an edge, they do it to "win". Schools are not the exception, however, when schools do compete they can actually help each other rather than harm one another. If a private school gets higher test scores per student than a public school in the same area, the next time there is a state or county exam, the public school will try to compete with the private school by improving their test scores. School vouchers when used in private schools don't always harm the successes of students who attend public schools, and here's why. Acording to Maranto, Robert. "Does Private School Competition Harm Public Schools? Revisiting Smith and Meier's The Case against School Choice." Political Research Quarterly 53.1 (2000): 177-92. JSTOR. Web. 18 July 2014. "According to the 1990 U.S. Census (1990a, b), 10.2 percent of Florida's students attended private school, a figure similar to the 9.8 percent national mean. Florida differs by less that 1 percent from the national mean for daily expenditure per student in public school. Its proportion of families in poverty with children under 18 years of age is 14.7 percent, as compared to the national mean of 14.9 percent. While Florida is somewhat more urban than the national mean (85.8 percent, as compared to 75.2 percent), and shows a slightly higher percentage of families whose 1989 income was less than $40,000 (62 percent, as compared to 57.1 percent), in general the state mirrors national conditions for a number of important indicators".
This means that I can now use Florida's data on the effects school competion has on public schools and whether or not they harm public schools. According to Ahlin, Åsa (2003) : Does School Competition Matter? Effects of a Large-Scale School Choice Reform on Student Performance, Working Paper, Department of Economics, Uppsala University, No. 2003:2 " School vouchers links public funding to individual students, to be “spent” in the school of the student’s choice. Thereby, vouchers constitute a policy instrument through which the degree of school competition can be increased". The third issue that people have with the effects of school vouchers is that when school vouchers are used by parents to send their child to a private school it takes away a potential student from a public school. According to Elkin, Larry M. "School Vouchers Do Not Necessarily Violate the Separartion of Church and State." Church and State. Ed. Lynn M. Zott. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010 Opposing Viewpoints in context. Web. 19 June 2013. " In the 2008 fiscal year, New York City reported spending $17,696 per student in its public schools, according to a study by the Cato institute. The institute estimates that actual per student spending in New York City that year may have been more like $21,543. For the cost of educating one student in the public school system, the city could have paid tuition for four or five students at Holy Spirit." Which is a religious private school in New York City. The Author also states that, " The added enrollment that vouchers would provide could make an enormous difference to those schools. In the Archdiocese of New York, for example, Latinos make up a small percentage of parochial school students, although nearly half of the Catholics in archdiocese are Hispanic. Dolan attributes this discrepancy to the difficulty many families have paying tuition ranging from about $3,000.00 to $6,000.00 a year. Providing these students with the opportunity to attend Catholic schools, should they choose to do so, could significantly bolster enrollment.
People need to have a choice in which school their child attends. It isn't wrong of a parent to withdraw a child from a public school just to put them right back in a private school. It's simply their choice. Not to mention the fact that there are countless reasons a parent might want to pull their child or children out of a public school, like being bullied, unsatisfactory teaching elements, or maybe even how a lot of teachers, elementary and high school teachers tend to push political opinions on children which is a form of indoctrination. Young children and teens need a chance to find themselves without being molded, shaped, and brain washed by school systems. It's called free thinking, which everyone should have the ability to do. So if a parent wants to put their child in a school that they think might be better suited to their needs, than that should be their prerogative and no one else's.
There is so little evidence on the effects school vouchers have in the United States. This is partially due to how little school voucher "activity" there is in the united states. There are, however, large scale voucher programs in other countries such as France, Chile, and New Zealand. Acording to Ladd, Helen F. "School Vouchers: A Critical View." Journal of Economic Perspectives 16.4 (2002): 3-24. Web. "In light of the limited U.S. experience, some authors support investments in large-scale voucher experiments as a way to generate more definitive information on their effects. However, before making such investments, it would behoove U.S. researchers and policymakers to pay more attention to the evidence from large-scale programs in other countries such as Chili and New Zealand. Chile for example, has had a universal school voucher program since the early 1980s that has been subject to careful evaluation. In addition New Zealand introduced in the early 1990s what some observers have referred to as quasi-voucher system. Parents can choose any school within the public sector, which has included religious schools since the 1970s, and school funding is based largely on student enrollment".
Observing voucher program's effects on countries like this might give Americans an insight on the effects that they could have right here in our own country. One thing is certain, if Congress passes any law that does remove school vouchers from education then we will never know the true potential they might have, good or bad. Not only that, but it will take away many chances for low income families to put their children in good schools. It would ultimately take away a person's choice of education and without a choice we have nothing. Only when a person is free can they have a choice. So in other words educational freedom would cease to exist.
Works Cited
The US English Dictionary.
H.G. Koenig and S. Al Shohaib, Health and well-Being in Islamic Societies:Background, Research, and Applications, Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014.
Ladd, Helen F. "School Vouchers: A Critical View." Journal of Economic Perspectives 16.4 (2002): 3-24. Web.
Elkin, Larry M. "School Vouchers Do Not Necessarily Violate the Separartion of Church and State." Church and State. Ed. Lynn M. Zott. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010 Opposing Veiwpoints in context. Web. 19 June 2013.
Ahlin, Åsa (2003) : Does School Competition Matter? Effects of a Large-Scale School Choice Reform on Student Performance, Working Paper, Department ofEconomics, Uppsala University, No. 2003:2
Acording to the US English dictionary, "school vouchers are government-funded vouchers redeemable for tuition fees at a school other than a public school that a student could attend free". There are a few issues people tend to have with school vouchers, the first I will list and quite possibly the most important is that school vouchers, " violate the separation of church and state". "In the First Amendments Establishment clause it states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion". Our country was made what it is today on the idea that people could be and should be free. To practice his or her religion without fear of being slandered or looked down on.
If you open your wallet and take out a dollar, it will read "In God We Trust", is this not also violating the separation of church and state to some degree? The majority of Americans are of Christain faith, in fact acording to H.G. Koenig and S. Al Shohaib, Health and well-Being in Islamic Societies:Background, Research, and Applications, Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014. 94% of US citizens practice christian religion and the United States has a greater christian population than any other country at 11.3% of the world's Christian population, . So I ask why are governmentally funded school voucher programs which can be used to send your child to a private school such a bad thing? Especially when they are being paid for with tax dollars.
The second problem with this subject that I will address is the act of competition in education. It's no secret that schools compete with each other. Whether it's football, a marching band, or test scores they compete. It is a simple fact that they always have and always will. When I drive down the road I can see a CVS pharmacy on one side, and I can see a Wall-greens on the other side. I can see a Catholic church on one side of the street and a Baptist church on the other. My point being that every one, every company and small or large scale buisness competes with one another, this is even apparent in religious establishments.
They do it to gain an edge, they do it to "win". Schools are not the exception, however, when schools do compete they can actually help each other rather than harm one another. If a private school gets higher test scores per student than a public school in the same area, the next time there is a state or county exam, the public school will try to compete with the private school by improving their test scores. School vouchers when used in private schools don't always harm the successes of students who attend public schools, and here's why. Acording to Maranto, Robert. "Does Private School Competition Harm Public Schools? Revisiting Smith and Meier's The Case against School Choice." Political Research Quarterly 53.1 (2000): 177-92. JSTOR. Web. 18 July 2014. "According to the 1990 U.S. Census (1990a, b), 10.2 percent of Florida's students attended private school, a figure similar to the 9.8 percent national mean. Florida differs by less that 1 percent from the national mean for daily expenditure per student in public school. Its proportion of families in poverty with children under 18 years of age is 14.7 percent, as compared to the national mean of 14.9 percent. While Florida is somewhat more urban than the national mean (85.8 percent, as compared to 75.2 percent), and shows a slightly higher percentage of families whose 1989 income was less than $40,000 (62 percent, as compared to 57.1 percent), in general the state mirrors national conditions for a number of important indicators".
This means that I can now use Florida's data on the effects school competion has on public schools and whether or not they harm public schools. According to Ahlin, Åsa (2003) : Does School Competition Matter? Effects of a Large-Scale School Choice Reform on Student Performance, Working Paper, Department of Economics, Uppsala University, No. 2003:2 " School vouchers links public funding to individual students, to be “spent” in the school of the student’s choice. Thereby, vouchers constitute a policy instrument through which the degree of school competition can be increased". The third issue that people have with the effects of school vouchers is that when school vouchers are used by parents to send their child to a private school it takes away a potential student from a public school. According to Elkin, Larry M. "School Vouchers Do Not Necessarily Violate the Separartion of Church and State." Church and State. Ed. Lynn M. Zott. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010 Opposing Viewpoints in context. Web. 19 June 2013. " In the 2008 fiscal year, New York City reported spending $17,696 per student in its public schools, according to a study by the Cato institute. The institute estimates that actual per student spending in New York City that year may have been more like $21,543. For the cost of educating one student in the public school system, the city could have paid tuition for four or five students at Holy Spirit." Which is a religious private school in New York City. The Author also states that, " The added enrollment that vouchers would provide could make an enormous difference to those schools. In the Archdiocese of New York, for example, Latinos make up a small percentage of parochial school students, although nearly half of the Catholics in archdiocese are Hispanic. Dolan attributes this discrepancy to the difficulty many families have paying tuition ranging from about $3,000.00 to $6,000.00 a year. Providing these students with the opportunity to attend Catholic schools, should they choose to do so, could significantly bolster enrollment.
People need to have a choice in which school their child attends. It isn't wrong of a parent to withdraw a child from a public school just to put them right back in a private school. It's simply their choice. Not to mention the fact that there are countless reasons a parent might want to pull their child or children out of a public school, like being bullied, unsatisfactory teaching elements, or maybe even how a lot of teachers, elementary and high school teachers tend to push political opinions on children which is a form of indoctrination. Young children and teens need a chance to find themselves without being molded, shaped, and brain washed by school systems. It's called free thinking, which everyone should have the ability to do. So if a parent wants to put their child in a school that they think might be better suited to their needs, than that should be their prerogative and no one else's.
There is so little evidence on the effects school vouchers have in the United States. This is partially due to how little school voucher "activity" there is in the united states. There are, however, large scale voucher programs in other countries such as France, Chile, and New Zealand. Acording to Ladd, Helen F. "School Vouchers: A Critical View." Journal of Economic Perspectives 16.4 (2002): 3-24. Web. "In light of the limited U.S. experience, some authors support investments in large-scale voucher experiments as a way to generate more definitive information on their effects. However, before making such investments, it would behoove U.S. researchers and policymakers to pay more attention to the evidence from large-scale programs in other countries such as Chili and New Zealand. Chile for example, has had a universal school voucher program since the early 1980s that has been subject to careful evaluation. In addition New Zealand introduced in the early 1990s what some observers have referred to as quasi-voucher system. Parents can choose any school within the public sector, which has included religious schools since the 1970s, and school funding is based largely on student enrollment".
Observing voucher program's effects on countries like this might give Americans an insight on the effects that they could have right here in our own country. One thing is certain, if Congress passes any law that does remove school vouchers from education then we will never know the true potential they might have, good or bad. Not only that, but it will take away many chances for low income families to put their children in good schools. It would ultimately take away a person's choice of education and without a choice we have nothing. Only when a person is free can they have a choice. So in other words educational freedom would cease to exist.
Works Cited
The US English Dictionary.
H.G. Koenig and S. Al Shohaib, Health and well-Being in Islamic Societies:Background, Research, and Applications, Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014.
Ladd, Helen F. "School Vouchers: A Critical View." Journal of Economic Perspectives 16.4 (2002): 3-24. Web.
Elkin, Larry M. "School Vouchers Do Not Necessarily Violate the Separartion of Church and State." Church and State. Ed. Lynn M. Zott. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010 Opposing Veiwpoints in context. Web. 19 June 2013.
Ahlin, Åsa (2003) : Does School Competition Matter? Effects of a Large-Scale School Choice Reform on Student Performance, Working Paper, Department ofEconomics, Uppsala University, No. 2003:2