The 14th Amendment in the United States Constitution forbids states from denying any person life, liberty and property without due process of the law. It further states that any person, within a state’s jurisdiction, cannot be denied equal protection of its laws. This amendment protects all people.
Chief Justice Clarence Thomas, in a 2002 ruling, stated reasons why school choice should be protected under the 14th Amendment. Justice Thomas wrote in defense of school choice, “Whatever the textual and historical merits of incorporating the Establishment Clause, I can accept that the Fourteenth Amendment protects religious liberty rights. But I cannot accept its use to oppose neutral programs of school choice through the incorporation of the Establishment Clause. There would be a tragic irony in converting the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of individual liberty into a prohibition on the exercise of educational choice.” His ruling goes on to state,
Respondents advocate using the Fourteenth Amendment to handcuff the State's ability to experiment with education. But without education one can hardly exercise the civic, political, and personal freedoms conferred by the Fourteenth Amendment. Faced with a severe educational crisis, the State of Ohio enacted wide-ranging educational reform that allows voluntary participation of private and religious schools in educating poor urban children otherwise condemned to failing public schools. The program does not force any individual to submit to religious indoctrination or education. It simply gives parents a greater choice as to where and in what manner to educate their children. This is a choice that whose with greater means have routinely exercised. The State has a constitutional r...
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...her, L., Schimmel, D. and Stellman, L. (2007). Teachers and the Law. 7th ed. Boston: Pearson Education. P186-187.
Kintisch, B.,Zelno, S.. (2002). Vouchers (SB 1) and the Law. Available: www.elc-pa.org. Last accessed 16th Mar 2011.
Smith, G. (2010). Education Vouchers Gain Ground. Available: http://www.thestate.com/2010/11/21/1570848/school-choice-gains-ground.html. Last accessed 16th Mar 2011.
Speel, R. (2011). Education vouchers would violate constitution. Available: http://www.pennlive.com/editorials/index.ssf/2011/02/education_vouchers_would_viola.html.
The Center for Education Reform. (2011). Choice Options State by State. Available: http://www.edreform.com/printer_FVersion.cfm. Last accessed 16th Mar 2011.
WestEd. (1999). What we know about vouchers the facts behind the rhetoric. Available: http://www.WestEd.org. Last accessed 16th Mar 2011.
Moore, W.D. The fourteenth amendment’s initial authority: problems of constitutional coherence. Temple Political and Civil Rights Law Review. 2014. Vol NN:N. pp101-132.
Did the state’s compulsory education n laws, which requires child’s attendance until age 16, infringe upon the parents’ First Amendment rights by criminalizing the parents who refused to send their children to school for religious reasons?
The idea that vouchers give parents a choice of schools for their children is simply incorrect. The only people who have any real choice in the matter are the private...
She realized that choice and accountability were not the answer, but that curriculum and instruction were more viable solutions to America’s educational dilemma. Ravitch suggests that to abandon public schools is to abandon the institution that supports our concepts of democracy and citizenship and to the promise of American life (Ravitch, 2011, p. 12-14). The idea of school choice is rooted in Milton Friedman’s essay concerning the government’s role in education. Friedman asserted that society should support and contribute to the maximum freedom of the individual or the family. He maintained that the government should provide vouchers to help support parents financially on their children’s education, which parents could use at the school of their choosing; so long as the school met set standards. Therefore, this creation of choice would stimulate competition, which Friedman believed would increase the development and improvement of nonpublic schools, as well as, create a variety of school options (Ravitch, 2011, p. 115). As a result of the choice movement, the public received three versions of school choice: voucher schools, private schools, and charter schools. Each of these schools receives public funding, but do not operate as traditional public schools, and are not managed by a government agency (Ravitch, 2011, p. 121). Charter schools became the most popular choice of this new
Why would anyone wish to withhold support for a program that has the potential to revolutionize the, often, insufficient American education system? This question has undoubtedly entered the mind of proponents of education voucher systems across the country. However, despite the pressure placed on legislators everywhere, close scrutiny of the real issues should not be clouded by public fervor. It is my belief that, after a thorough examination of the merits of such programs, school vouchers would be a gross detriment to both the American education system and the nation itself.
The United States Constitution is a powerful document, outlining many rights offered and obligations assumed both by the government and citizens alike. This document allows for changes to be made through an amendment process in the House of Representatives and Senate.1 Over the years, a total of twenty-seven revisions have been passed, some much more successful than others. The 14th Amendment was written specifically to protect many American citizens, who, prior to that time, had received little, if any, security from the government. Unfortunately, while admirable in concept, the 14th Amendment has not been as effective as was intended. How has this amendment failed the citizens it was written to protect?
Public School Choice is an easy program to understand and it contains many advantages but also many disadvantages. Public School Choice is when parents can elect to send their children out of a school that has not made adequate yearly progress for two consecutive years into a school that has made progress. (McClure, 2002) If there are no available schools within the original school district, then a family can choose to send their children to another district. This only happens when the other schools in the original district are all labeled as ‘underachieving schools’ and have not made the adequate yearly progress. (McClure, 2002)
Merino, Noel. Ed. School Policies. Farmington Hills: Greenhaven Press and Gale, 2011. Pg. 105-115. Print.
Betts, Julian. Getting choice right: ensuring equity and efficiency in education policy. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2005.
It is a growing debate in an area that American society cannot afford to ignore, as the discussion on voucher schools directly affects our youth, the very foundation of our country. Many cities across the United States have proposed school voucher programs in an effort to improve the education of inner-city children that come from low-income families. However, with this proposition arises certain questions that cannot be avoided. Although proponents of school vouchers argue differently, challengers of the system expressly state that the taxpayer-funded voucher system infringes upon our First Amendment rights. Additionally, opponents suggest that the money being used for vouchers be provided to failing public schools, as used to be, and should continue to be, the American way. At the same time, voucher advocates believe that the consequences of a full-scale voucher policy for our nation’s public schools would, in fact, be beneficial. Still, both sides of the argument agree: our nation must find a way to give every student in struggling schools the best education possible. The complex disagreement lies in the steps that must be taken in order to achieve this goal. Should the government adopt a taxpayer-funded voucher system or otherwise explore alternate routes that could more effectively ensure the success of the American educational system?
Recent trends toward privatizing schools and relieving them of state requirements wrongly imply that schools should mirror the desires of parents and ignore the public's interest in having citizens educated for democracy.
...whether or not voucher programs are benefiting the nations educational system it is clear that the benefits are not outweighing the risks. There is so much time and energy being spent on legal battles throughout the nation, when the federal Supreme Court has already declared that vouchers are within the rights of the Constitution (Garnet, 2005). It is pointless to waste so much time drawing attention to the legality of the school choice system and vouchers when you could be spending that time improving the implementation of the voucher programs across the nation, which would actually benefit the students (Manuel, 2006). In conclusion, voucher systems cannot be beneficial to students when they are not being effectively implemented and they cannot be effectively implemented when politicians and state leaders would rather argue than work together to improve the system.
Despite the controversy surrounding vouchers, the private school choice movement may be gaining support. In June of 1999, The Florida legislature approved a plan to give children in the state's worst schools taxpayer-funded tuition payments to attend qualified public, private, or religious schools.
Rebell, Michael A. “Safeguarding The Right To A Sound Basic Education In Times Of Fiscal Constraint.” Albany Law Review 75.4 (2012). 1855-1976. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Dec. 2013.
Today, a solid education is what any parent should desire for their child. Without that education there is really no successful future ahead of them. Many parents and teachers have been very supportive of the Common Core Standards, but many are against it and feel that it puts an unnecessary strain on students, parents, and teachers. Several states now offer vouchers that give students the opportunity to attend private schools if the student or parents feel that their education goals are not being met through the public school system. But how beneficial are these vouchers to everyone, including taxpayers? It seems that more research needs to be done to see what the real cost is, if it truly allows children from low income families to attend without a financial burden, and to see if the students transferring from public schools to private schools are becoming more successful in achieving their educational goals.