School Choice Meets the Needs of Parents
Parents are requesting the ability to choose a school for their children as a means towards legitimate objectives. "The parents are saying that they are not going to tolerate their children being miseducated any more, and that they are the ones who ultimately responsible for what happens for their children". (Milwaukee Parental Choice program). "Parents are using the scholarships to meet a number of needs, including high academic standards; safety; discipline; and moral environment".(Following The Teachers' Lead).
The bad situation at many of the public schools encourages parents to look for other public or private schooling for their children. "Dire condition of too many
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(Contact on School Choice). 60% of Chicagoans favor letting parents send their to the school of their choice. Over 70% of the blacks in Chicago favor school choice.(Chicago Tribune, January 1,1994). 67% of Hispanic and 76% of black parents favor school choice-1992 Gallup Survey. "Throughout the country, dozens of public and private sector programs are expanding the choices available to families, and in so doing, are having a positive effect on the quality of education all children receive".(What is working around the country).
The available follow-up for the Choice experience, indicates success. "Evaluation of the first two years experience show high level of parents satisfaction, increased involvement and improved students' discipline and attendance. The earliest evidence of choice working came from New York East Harlem school district: graduation rates shot up from less than 50% to more than 90%; the district which ranked last of New York city's 32 district, climbed to 10th in basic skill testing. In Minnesota and during the program first year 1987, over 2000 dropouts returned to school through the new choice plan".(Contacts on school choice). "We have less teenage pregnancy, less truancy, less absenteeism; we maintain virtually all our students regardless of the handicapping conditions, and thus refer fewer students to expensive,
In the United States, getting an education is very important. Children spend thirteen years of their life learning English, history, math, science, and various other subjects so that they may one day be a productive college student or a working class citizen. In fact, “There are 33,619 private schools in the United States, serving 5.4 million PK-12 students. Private schools account for 25 percent of the nation’s schools and enroll 10 percent of all PK-12 students” (“Council for American Private Education”). Parents face many issues when deciding which school is right for their child. However, the factors that determine their choice of a private or public school are often the results of various essentials that closely mirror the parent’s ideology in regards to education. Parents should send their children to a private school because private schools have smaller class sizes, the curriculum is more challenging, and the school environment is much safer than public schools.
Since the 1980s, charter schools have allowed families to exercise school choice, a practice that had begun a few decades earlier when parents preferred to control their children’s education because of religious views or racial prejudices. As dissatisfaction with the performance public schools grew during the late 20th century, parents called on government to subsidize an arrangement where children could receive adequate education outside of the traditional public school system. Thus, two major school choice devices emerged: charter schools, privately run schools that receive public funding, and tuition vouchers, which cover some or all of tuition at participating private schools.
Smith, Morgan. “School Choice and Vouchers.” The Texas Tribune. N.p. 1 June 2015. Web. 8
Positive academic effect. Studies conducted since the late 1990s realistically show that school choice and a form of voucher system, is a valuable intervention and public policy tool for boosting student achievement (Does School Choice Have a Positive Academic Impact on Students?, 2015). Because private schools do not adhere to state
Gordon continues her article by going into the pros and cons of why vouchers may or may not work. Many people think that the American education is failing their kids and the vouchers are a solution to that problem because, they are given the option to leave if the school is not fulfilling their student’s needs. Supporters of vouchers see it as more effective
School choice is an important issue in communties with poor quality schools. The school choice
Education is a very important part of a person’s life. Every parent want the best thing for their children. They want their children to be happy and to be able to achieve their dreams and be what they want to be, which is why they want the best education for their children. Because, almost everyone would agree that being well – educated is the closest way to success life and good future. But, their desire to send their kids to the best school have to face many obstacles. One of these obstacles would be choosing school for their kids. In the U.S., there are three types of school: public school, charter school and private school. Private schools are usually very selective, has better performance than government-funded school and has expensive tuition fee. Rich families would send their kids to private schools because they could afford the expense. However, for a normal family, paying the expense for private schools would be overwhelming. So, there options are narrowed between charter schools and public schools. There have been many debates on whether charter schools or public schools provide students with better education. But, there are obvious evidences that charter schools are generally better than public schools:
Thank you for your response. Yes, I do agree that when it comes to these vouchers, both parent and child should have a meeting with the school they want to leave as well as the school they want their child to attend. The teachers and school are more in the position to point out things that both the student needs and can acheive. The main focus should be on the best possible education for the child, that should be the only deciding factor. Best wishes to you and God bless.
Is choice desirable? Yes. As expressed by the Constitution of the United States, our capitalistic society certainly believes so. Teachers believe so. Teachers in public schools in large cities are
Education is an issue that touches everyone’s lives in one way or another. Whether you are a parent, student, teacher, taxpayer, or employee, the effects of education on society can be seen everyday. For this reason, public schools are a top concern among political leaders. Over the past twenty-five years, confidence in the nation’s public school system has dramatically declined. While the public for the most part seems to support their school district, criticism is not lacking. Recent years especially have shown dissipating support. It appears that the prevailing view is that public education, as a whole, is in bad condition and is in need of a renewed effort to fix it. Private schools seem to fare
This is good for families who wanted their children to attend these schools with high tuition, but could never afford it.
Problems facing the public schools. The general satisfaction with the public schools should not cause one to lose sight of the fact that the public wants those schools improved. It would be logical for such improvement to focus on areas in which problems exist. Down through the years, the public has been consistent in the area which shows lack of discipline. Other points of either drug abuse, lack of financial support, or lack of discipline has topped the list. This year, lack of discipline is identified as the top problem. Fighting/violence/gangs follows at high on the list and lack of financial support/funding/money is also an issue. Teachers and classroom sizes are recognized as a ongoing problem in public education.
A good education is an essential part of a child’s development. Today, parents have a choice in their child’s education and can evaluate both public and private schools. Although both public and private schools provide education and opportunities for students, parents should evaluate the differences and choose the option that best suits their child and families’ needs. In this paper, I will compare and contrast five major areas that relate to public and private schools including class size, cost, curriculum, services, and teachers.
Over the years, privatization has become more and more popular in the many industries with the education industry being one of them. Even so, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, the number of students who choose to enroll in public schools has increased compared to the
There are different types of education that a student may receive in today’s society. The choices are narrowed down into two main categories, public and private school. Many people in today’s society believe it’s better to send their children to private schools rather than public schools. To most parents deciding which school system will be better is based on curriculum, class size, and most of all cost. It’s not an easy choice for parents to decide, but many parents feel their child is worth receiving the best education offered.