It's About the Kids

I stay away from political topics not because I don't care or that I'm afraid to share my opinion, but I honestly (most of the time) just don't know enough about stuff to really have a valid opinion. But here it is my opinion anyway, "full of flaws" and all.

A few things about school vouchers..

1. They give parents more of a "choice" in where their children are educated by offering a kind of a scholarship (voucher) to go to a private school. Depending on your income, you may receive $500-$4000 to go to a private school of your choice, religious and all. Separation of church and state come to mind? If you're extreme about it, it could be seen as a conflict of interest to have tax dollars pay for some child to attend Catholic, LDS or whatever type of parochial school. Also, schools who receive government money are required to then follow some government regulations. Some people fear this will lead to private schools losing their uniqueness, but it will possibly hold them more accountable for what they do, instead of having practically free reign that they have now (see #5).

2. This voucher that allows a child to attend is a one time thing. Private school tuition is often more expensive and so the voucher would just get them there but keep them there? The rest is up to you. For the middle class students, whose parents make "enough" money, their voucher may not even be enough to pay for one year of schooling.

3. Education was founded on the ideal of it being FREE to all children. Starting to mix in this muddy water of "not good enough" and of having to pay to go to private school is really discouraging and not a possibility for most people. "Public schools aren't good enough (what does that really mean anyway) so now I have to pay to have my child go to a private school to get a decent education?" If your idea of a decent education is private school, then see #5. I have never met a child, in my 7 years of teaching (I know it is short), who has come from a private school and been caught up, prepared and has learned enough to survive in public school. Some people think that is a good thing, others wonder how their child will survive outside of a private school where there is not much accountability. (Sorry, this point is basically my own biased opinion, not really much fact).

4. So make the public education system better all around so that we wouldn't want to go somewhere else, right? We are trying. They are trying. No Child Left Behind is seemingly ridiculous and is heavily underfunded for what they are asking schools to do and it does have some ridiculous expectations created by people who don't know much about the logistics of public education, but the good that I have seen in it is that it is making schools, principals and teachers more accountable for what goes on inside the classrooms. It is proving to require more research in teaching methods, programs and overall effectiveness of what public education offers. It is requiring us to provide data, track scores, use programs that can show growth and be more cognizant of what we can do to improve and help students succeed. This has improved schools in many aspects, although there is still more we can do, with the proper resources.

5. With all this accountability, we sure are glad that teachers are certified with a college degree to teach our children aren't we? And those who have been hired out of necessity without a degree work very hard throughout the school year to attain their credential. They are required to. Many private schools are not required to have licensed teachers, accreditations or even be accountable for what they teach in the schools. The private school appeal to many is "smaller class sizes" but if the instruction or curriculum isn't up to par, what good will small classes do.

6. But vouchers will make class sizes smaller and provide more money for public schools, right? Sure. Those kids leave and there are less left behind, but then, according to certain regulations, according to overall population of a school, the district will allot certain amounts of money to provide for teachers. If the number of students gets too low, teachers will be let go, shifted around and those kids will be distributed amongst the rest which just increases the class size all over again. At the beginning, it is great but eventually leads to the same old story. And some private schools may not even participate in the voucher program. It is all just a big experiment. And it's not even clear that in the end, public schools will receive the leftover money from those kids who go only use part of the voucher because of income. Some people say the rest of the money is distributed to the public schools, but there is no guarantee in that.

7. But my child isn't getting their needs met in the regular public education classroom! This child has a learning disability, this one has A.D.D. or this one is reading way below grade level. Most private schools do not have licensed teachers who have the skills to know how help students with special needs and just smaller class sizes is not going to help those children succeed. Some private schools do not even have to accept students with special needs and can discriminate against applicants for many reasons.

8. So what really is the harm in school vouchers, anyway? Well, before I get to that, I just want to say that these examples I have given are very generalized, but there are some students who do succeed in private schools. Some private schools are accredited and some have licensed teachers so it would be great for some students to go to those schools, if public education is not meeting their needs (although, don't forget that public schools are required by law to make their instruction and support appropriate for all students and especially those with disabilities. A lot of times, the school system fails students because there is not good communication, there is not support by the parents and parents are not informed enough of what the school is already doing and working hard at or where their limits are, especially with funding, and what public schools can do for their student).
Don't school vouchers provide competition for schools to do better and for other schools, public and private, to step up their accreditations, programs and accountability? Sure, and it's good to have competition to increase expectations and raise standards, but is it worth the risk, just for some healthy competition? Vouchers can take money away from the public schools, where we are so desperately needing it. The money used to fund this program may take money from other public school programs. Why waste people's time with vouchers when we could be improving FREE public education and making it a better place for all students, not just the ones whose parents have enough money to sustain their tuition to private schools (the upper class) or for those students who don't usually have a choice (lower income families) and give them false hope of better education at a private school by giving them a few dollars to try it out for a year or whatever. Yes, it may be appropriate for some children, but it is a small number compared to the number of students who will not EVER use a school voucher.

9. I haven't even begun to get into the research showing the outcomes of the few districts who have implemented vouchers - the legal problems, the lack of documented growth or success from students choosing to leave to go to private schools, and how it has hurt public schools (not to mention the possibility that eventually tax payers will have to support both private and public schools). It's too risky for me to give it my vote, especially being a public educator who is now privately educating two girls who were "failed" by BOTH a public and a private school. I don't think that this "experiment" in school vouchers is worth possibly making things worse for the children in public schools. Politicians always are about PRO-CHOICE in education. Parents have a choice to take their kids to private schools, its just the money that is holding them back. If they can come up with empirical evidence (over time) to show the success of vouchers and that it will not hurt public education, I would maybe think twice about it. But I do not feel comfortable subjecting Utah kids to this test of vouchers, especially when I do not personally agree that most private schools are a better "choice."

If you actually made it this far, thanks for listening, although there are many points that I'm sure I haven't touched. I just wanted to get these points out there so I could be more sure of what my opinion is myself and help others to understand a little more about what they will be voting for on Monday. MONDAY?? That's so soon! Get out there and vote, if you can!!