Vouchers And School Choice Essay

School Choice: The Key to Fixing America’s Education?

School choice has been a widely debated topic in American politics for years. School choice is a wide array of programs offering students a way to go to different, sometimes better schools other than those offered to them by their residence. The idea of school choice especially appeals to many students in inner cities. Some would otherwise not get the opportunity to move from run down, ill-equipped public school where their chances of success are severely stymied. Without the opportunity to take their voucher for government funding elsewhere, many of these students futures will be predetermined by their socioeconomic status. A student in an inner-city school, for example, Baltimore, could

Many proponents of school choice argue that schools nationwide would benefit from an open market type of school system. In an article written by John E. Chubb, the author describes a study that showed that the competitive pressures of the marketplace, where families can take or leave a school, leads schools to organize in ways that please families. Schools subject to market pressure tend to develop clear missions, focus on academics, and encourage strong leadership (Shokarii n. pg). Similar to how the open market forces businesses to change and reform to help draw new clients, an open market created by school choice would encourage schools to make necessary changes, lest they lose the amount government funding that students give them through voucher programs. While an open market of schools could encourage run-down schools to make improvements, some critics of school choice say that the country cannot afford to fund two school systems at once. According to an article written by Sasha Pudelski, public schools, no matter how impoverished, serve 90% of all students regardless of ability or income. And not all students would be able to take advantage of a school choice system (Pudelski n. pg). Instead of imposing an “evolve or die” complex on struggling public schools, the author argues that using the money used for vouchers instead to invest in better educational programs would improve public schools. While this could potentially help certain schools, throwing more money at problems has