Parental Choice Programs Working
Interesting...
This isn't the full-on voucher type system that I feel would be extremely successful in raising the bar for public education in this country, but it does seem to be working well. Its hard to argue with success.
Unfortunately, some people are against programs like the one above. Can you guess who?
Why did they attack? Spokesmen from the groups above would no-doubt give you a litany of reasons. They'll tell us that public money going to private religious schools (which some parents have chosen over public schools) violates the separation of church and state. Others will tell you that public funding of private schools goes against the constitutions of many states which mandate that the government must provide schooling for children and that funding private schooling does not meet that requirement.
But those reasons above are nonsense. The real reasons are these:
The bottom line is this: Parental choice programs gives parents more control over how their children are educated. And, if Florida is any example, giving parents more control over their children's educations usually results in a better education for the children.
Look, specifically, at the numbers for the minority children. You can imagine why there's been such a large jump since this program began. Many of these minority parents probably live in areas with poor public schools. Its a story we're all familiar with. But with Gov. Bush's program they were able to send their kids to better schools. It has been said many times that education is the key to racial equality. If that's true, and I think most of us would agree that it is, then what is so wrong about a program that allows for a better education for all children?
The saga began in 1999, when Gov. Jeb Bush signed into law the first money-back guarantee in the history of public education: the Opportunity Scholarship Program. Under the program, whenever a public school receives two failing grades on Florida's academic performance standards, state educational officials come into the school with a remedial program, and the students are allowed to transfer to better performing public schools or to use a share of their public funds as full payment of private-school tuition.
Six years later, only 750 children are attending private schools using opportunity scholarships. But their footsteps have reverberated across the state, prompting failing public schools to reform. Steps taken by failing schools have included spending more money in the classroom and less on administration, hiring tutors for poor performing teachers, and providing year-round instruction to pupils.
Defenders of the status quo insist that such reforms were already under way. But a freedom of information request by the Institute for Justice from school districts that lifted schools off the failing list revealed ubiquitous reference to the dreaded V-word: Without such measures, school officials warned, we wind up with vouchers. The rules of economics, it seems, do not stop at the schoolhouse doors.
The results have been stunning. Even with tougher state standards, nearly half of Florida's public schools now earn "A" grades, while a similar percentage scored "C's" when the program started. A 2003 study by Jay Greene found that gains were most concentrated among schools under threat of vouchers.
Most remarkable has been minority student progress. While the percentage of white third-graders reading at or above grade level has increased to 78% from 70% in 2001, the percentage among Hispanic third-graders has climbed from 46% to 61%, and among blacks from 36% to 52%. Graduation rates for Hispanic students have increased from 52.8% before the program started to 64% today; and for black students from 48.7% to 57.3%. Minority schoolchildren are not making such academic strides anywhere else.
This isn't the full-on voucher type system that I feel would be extremely successful in raising the bar for public education in this country, but it does seem to be working well. Its hard to argue with success.
Unfortunately, some people are against programs like the one above. Can you guess who?
The usual cast of characters that has opposed parental choice programs in other states--teachers unions, the American Civil Liberties Union, and People for the American Way--mounted a legal attack on the Florida program as the ink was drying.
Why did they attack? Spokesmen from the groups above would no-doubt give you a litany of reasons. They'll tell us that public money going to private religious schools (which some parents have chosen over public schools) violates the separation of church and state. Others will tell you that public funding of private schools goes against the constitutions of many states which mandate that the government must provide schooling for children and that funding private schooling does not meet that requirement.
But those reasons above are nonsense. The real reasons are these:
- These people want to be in charge of what your child is taught. If parents are able to choose where their kids get their education they won't be able to do that.
- The teachers don't want to have to compete with one another. Most public school teachers only have to do their jobs well enough to remain employed at the public school. There is no threat of loosing students, and thus their jobs, should another school perform better. So when laws like this come along the teachers unions squawk.
The bottom line is this: Parental choice programs gives parents more control over how their children are educated. And, if Florida is any example, giving parents more control over their children's educations usually results in a better education for the children.
Look, specifically, at the numbers for the minority children. You can imagine why there's been such a large jump since this program began. Many of these minority parents probably live in areas with poor public schools. Its a story we're all familiar with. But with Gov. Bush's program they were able to send their kids to better schools. It has been said many times that education is the key to racial equality. If that's true, and I think most of us would agree that it is, then what is so wrong about a program that allows for a better education for all children?
