Vouchers and School Choice Beats No Choice

School Choice Beats No Choice

I am avidly in favor of school choice for two main reasons. First, no child should be locked into attending an inadequate school, lacking quality and diversity, which under the current system is rewarded for its failure. Secondly, children and parents who hold strong convictions concerning their academic and social objectives need latitude in order to place themselves in an environment which will maximize their learning success.

The ideal choice program, in my opinion, would comprise vouchers, drawn from the child's home district and not exceeding the average amount spent locally per student. A voucher or draft is awarded upon the completion of an in depth interview of both student and parents, guardian or assigned mentor and an interview board consisting of school board and local business representatives, and nominated tax payers. In turn, the draft would be valid at any school in the United States, including institutes for higher learning or for study abroad programs, providing the student has met all application standards of said school. Stakeholders are encouraged to make frugal use of the monies or creatively obtain any excess balance. Those not willing to choose, incapable of making such decisions or deemed hard to place, would be assigned local mentors to aid them in this process. Actively encouraging families to choose involves them more fully in the educational process as a whole.

Opposition will arise focusing on such issues as community fragmentation, rampant unemployment, and territorilaism (outsiders viewed as a potential detriment). Communities described as crime ridden, inner city, lower socio-economic can hold high expectations for their children t...

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...their students to be educated at schools of choice. I feel confident the active role the school board will acquire, within this system, generating individual, genuine concern and commitment toward others will help pull a community together.

It becomes every community's challenge to foster caring and appropriate experiences for its children. Our goal is to turn out productive members in our society. This task becomes impossible for those locked in a no choice system. Therefore, the successful implementation of a voucher program and elimination of dysfunctional schools will provide the choices which allow our communities to meet such challenges. The competition engendered by a choice program should ensure excellence in teaching and dynamic educational systems which in turn will produce users and managers of information in a global society.