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Essay Will School Vouchers Improve Public Schools?

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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 …show more content…

And why should concerned parents support public schools over vouchers? The answer, according to Chase, is simple, as public schools over the past thirty years have halved the performance imbalance between white and African American students and, within the last five years, have raised the achievement level of the nation’s poorest children by an entire grade (Chase 1). Chase maintains that, instead of “throwing money” at poorly managed schools, a “genuine commitment be made to giving all children, regardless of zip code, adequate educational resources,” as is the desire of taxpayers and the tradition of education in America (Chase 2).

In contrast, advocates of taxpayer-funded voucher programs suggest that vouchers provided to low-income, inner-city students would actually benefit the public school system from which the student left to pursue a voucher-supported education. Although it is true that budgets will decline for public schools with the institution of voucher schools, Commentary magazine editor Gary Rosen writes that schools will only be losing the money formerly used for the voucher-assisted student, as public schools receive per-pupil funding. Additionally, because voucher schools are primarily maintained by grants from the state and public schools by both state and local taxes, public schools will continue to benefited from local taxes intended to cover even those pupils that have enrolled in a voucher school. In the

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