Blog #1
The topic I chose to learn about is the issue of school vouchers. I found a good source of information on the topic in a March 11, 2009 article from the CNN website:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/11/martin.vouchers/index.html#cnnSTCText
As is stands now each state is responsible for establishing its own policies concerning the use of vouchers. The reason this topic has been stirred up again is because of the new 410 billion dollar “omnibus spending bill” from President Obama. Both sides (republicans and democrats) are relatively eager to see the bill go through but buried inside is a stipulation that will essentially halt voucher programs.
This stipulation has caused a bit of controversy in certain circles. Teachers and teacher unions have been opposed while more conservative groups have supported vouchers. While there are enough issues dealing with the subject to fill a book, I can’t help but to look at two ways; as a teacher and as a parent.
As a teacher, vouchers would be horrible for a public school. It has been a trend that kids that come from richer families tend to better in school and kids that come from poorer families tend to struggle (obviously this is not an absolute). Since the richer families would be the only group that would benefit from the vouchers they would be the ones that would take their kids out of public schools. This may not be a major concern until one starts to think about the effects of a smaller school population. This would mean less funding and less quality teachers. If the student population consisted of low income students, schools would have a more difficult time filling teaching positions with high quality teachers. No matter what anyone says, teachers will be less likely to want to work in a building that is filled low income students and the problems that typically go with it such as behavior and attendance.
As a parent, vouchers would be good because I would then be able to remove my child if I felt that the school was not meeting my expectations. The idea of being able to shop around for the school that would be best for my child sounds appealing.
Since I just happen to be both a teacher and a parent I have come to the conclusion it will be my own responsibility to ensure that my kids are learning. If there would ever be a time that I feel that my child is not performing well enough I will not be blaming the school. I would take the initiative to do whatever it would take to get him to improve either through tutoring or extra work at night. I think it sends a horrible message when I see employees of our school district and politicians who oppose vouchers send their kids to private schools. In conclusion, I feel that our government has a responsibility to make our public schools as good as possible and commit to constantly trying to improve them.
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I, too, am a teacher and parent. I am, and have always been opposed to school vouchers. The only thing that school vouchers do is divert precious public funds from an already under-funded public education system. The education budget only makes up less than 1% of the total federal spending budget each year. An argument I often hear from parents who already send their kids to private school and support the idea of school vouchers is that they pay taxes for a service they never use. My response, “I pay taxes to support the fire and police and I pray every night that I will never have to use them, but if I do I take comfort in knowing they are well-funded.”
ReplyDeleteOn the surface, vouchers sound good. Why wouldn't we want to help students who are caught in a bad public school. Unfortunately, vouchers do little to solve the real issues facing public education today.
ReplyDeleteYour comments about teachers not wanting to work in poor schools with poor children really goes to the crux of the problem. Until we find a way to really bring equity into public education, we will have what Jonathan Kozol calls "education apartheid." In any urban setting, the disparity from one school to the next can be drastic. Why? -- because the poor and minorities are often invisible to the concerns of those in power.
In his book, "Ordinary Resurrections," Kozol describes his experience working in Bronx schools. We can provide some of these students with vouchers to go to better schools, but until every child and every neighborhood school is afforded equal access to a meaningful, enriching education, we will continue to use band-aid effects like vouchers.
As you, I am a teacher and a parent. I use to be in-favor of vouchers, but now I have mixed feelings. For personal reasons my wife and I have contemplated the idea of sending our daughter to a private school; but as a public school educator I enjoy my job and wish to keep my job, which is funded by tax dollars and this money would be decreased if vouchers became available.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Mike, that parents need to start taking responsibility for their child's education. Switching school is not always the answer. Parents need to be involved in the school and in the classroom and could assist in any problem that begins before it escalates to a major issue.
Mike, this is a great issue to debate. I don’t have kids yet hope to have them in the future. You certainly have me thinking on both sides of the fence.
ReplyDeleteThe capitalist system we live under is partly to blame. The rich have more opportunities. Many wealthy people have earned those opportunities, while many have been given their silver spoon. Private schools do a wonderful job educating their students. A colleague of mine taught at a private school for eight years and had more discipline problems in a week than his entire career at the aforementioned school. Poor people cannot afford to send their children to these schools, which are typically superior to the public school counterpart. Private schools must serve their clientele or lose tuition dollars. Students must follow the rules and achieve or be asked to leave. It is unfair that wealthy people have to pay public school taxes and tuition for private schooling. However, it is the mission of state and local government to provide a quality education for its citizenry.
Our capitalist system is based on competition. There would be increased competition among public schools to keep students under the voucher system. The problem is the hard work, determination, intrinsic motivation and drive to do a good job is already present at the public school system. I believe public schools across the country put out the best bang for the buck. Of course there a few exceptions; disheartened teachers, lazy staff, politics, vengeful school boards, etc. The voucher system would penalize an already overachieving body of people.
I have come to a conclusion. Parents must become more involved in for kids education. If you have ever attended a high school parent teacher conference you have some evidence of that. Students must be more accountable. Teachers must do the best job they can to teach whatever kind of kid shows up to class. There could be more incentive to recruit better teachers. An increase in funding might make a school a better place to live and learn. I don’t believe families “voting with their feet” and leaving for greener pastures is a solution to the problem. I think this would dilute the cream of the crop nature – the strong survive at the private and public school level. Everyone must pull themselves up by the bootstraps to have success. Thanks, Arek
As a teacher in a private school I am for the voucher system. I disagree with the fact only the rich would take advantage of vouchers. In fact, vouchers would even the playing field at our school and make our school community more diverse. With the current economic crunch, we are giving more aid to less families. This means we are losing students who want to be in our school but their families can not afford tuition. Vouchers would allow all students to bring their per pupil funding and take it anywhere they want. I also feel the vouchers would force schools to hire better teachers and be more accountable. Want to keep your students and not lose them? Do better, hire better teachers, have more offerings etc.
ReplyDeleteThis is a hard one to call. Like you I believe that parents need to begin to step up to the plate and make the best of what public school offers. However, if I view this realistically, I know that so many students come from less than ideal circumstances, both those that are wealthy and poor. At the core of this is an America that thinks the educational systems and teachers therein can solve all our societal ills. Parents want to see good grades but don't want to invest the time it takes to produce them. Parents often want material dumbed down and standards lowered so everybody has a fair chance to learn and get a good grade. In the end, the main advantage of school vouchers is it would allow students to choose a school and perhaps a school of choice creates more "buy in" and "commitment" than the school they are going to now. Still, vouchers can't fix parenting or a society that is losing what made it great - strong morals, hard work and a job well done. In conclusion, wherever the children go to school, the parents and students must have "buy in" and realize that the education game is won or lost in the home, not in school.
ReplyDeleteI have one "twist" I guess to your statement that most teacher's would choose NOT to work at the "low-income" school. This is true in a large urban area perhaps, but in our smaller rural areas it isn't always a choice. I had taught awhile at my current school before I was even aware of our population of free and reduced students.
ReplyDeleteI think vouchers to some extent say underperforming schools are not important. They don't encourage underperforming schools to do better they actually make it more difficult by diverting funding to other places. How is this helping anyone?
I too, am a parent that has contemplated the whole private school/home school option at times. I think this is mainly because I see first hand the inner struggles that normally occur in public school settings. Rural schools push for families to apply for free and reduced lunches because "it helps the school." While this may help the school financially... we all know that throwing money at problems doesn’t fix them. Why does money always seem to be the underlying cause of problems? I think many of our schools and teachers have the resources and materials they need available, we just do not use them effectively. I have always thought that teacher training is the best investment. This post and the comments reinforce this belief for me.
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