Researchers found little evidence that school choice programs actually boost student achievement.
Full school choice programs, also known as tuition vouchers, provide parents with a portion of the public educational funding allotted for their child to attend school, and allows them to use those funds to send their child to the school of their choice.
School choice allows public education funds to follow students to the schools or services that best fit their needs—whether that's to a public school, private school, charter school, home school or any other learning environment parents choose for their kids.
The goal of school choice programs is to give parents more control over their child's education and to allow parents to pursue the most appropriate learning environments for children.
As one research overview put it, “Evidence on both small-scale and large-scale programs suggests that competition induced by vouchers leads public schools to improve.” The impact is usually quite small and the exact effects depend on the program.
School choice programs affect public schools' funding and resources in the same way they're affected when a student leaves because their family moved to a new district—except with school choice programs, public schools get to keep almost all of the federal and local tax dollars and usually a portion of the state funds ...
School choice advocates fail to consider the indirect and haphazard mechanisms of market forces. ... School choice research has been negatively impacted by common problems with educational research (comparing similar populations, confronting problems of scaling up, etc.) as well as the corrupting influence of advocacy.
Top 10 School Voucher Pros & Cons – Summary List
School Voucher Pros | School Voucher Cons |
---|---|
School vouchers give families more flexibility | Crowded private schools |
Competition among schools increases | Can damage the reputation of private schools |
Better education on average | Some people can't use school vouchers |
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SCHOOL | Six Cruel Hours of Our Life Miscellaneous » Unclassified | Rate it: |
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SCHOOL | Student, Culture, Honesty, Obedience, Order, Loyalty Miscellaneous » Funnies | Rate it: |
SCHOOL | Sincerity, Capacity, Honesty, Orderliness, Obedience, and Learning Community » Educational | Rate it: |
There are 29 voucher programs in 18 states—Arkansas, Florida (2), Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana (2), Maine, Maryland, Mississippi (2), New Hampshire, North Carolina (2), Ohio (5), Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin (4)— and Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.
Parents are choosing charter schools for a reason
According to the survey results, the top three reasons why parents choose charters are their academic reputation (32%), proximity to home/work (28%), and a safe environment (27%).
School choice comes in many different forms and all 50 states plus the District of Columbia provide parents the ability to send their child to a school outside their neighborhood in some way. ... School vouchers, education savings accounts and scholarship tax credit programs expand those choices to include private schools.
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