An article landed in my news feed one morning earlier this Spring: "I Was a Voucher School Parent". If you know me, you know that I am passionate about public schools, so I immediately wanted to get to the bottom of the writer's little three-letter "was". What caused her to put the voucher school behind her?
Here's the definition of the type of school her daughter attended: voucher school: "a private school that uses taxpayer dollars to subsidize tuition without the oversight and accountability of public schools". Granted, some might say that the phrase "without the oversight and accountability" suggests that oversight and accountability are good things, and that if a school operates without these things it's not good. I happen to think that oversight and accountability (in many ways, thought not all) are good things. Too much oversight belies a lack of trust and can be stifling, but everyone should be accountable in appropriate ways.
The graphic above shows what I think about vouchers.
When states give vouchers to families so that their children can attend private schools, they take money away from public schools - the very schools that are charged with providing each and every student with "FAPE", a free and appropriate public education. All students are entitled to FAPE - typical students, special needs students, gifted students, nice students, naughty students, poor students, privileged students - ALL students.
Many people do not know that when states give vouchers to students so that they can attend private schools, those private schools are not charged with providing education to "all" students. They don't accept all students; that is why they are private. Most private schools are not equipped or staffed to serve the needs of special needs students or English language learners and therefore, they do not take these students and are not by law required to take them.
Many people do also not know that when states give vouchers to students so that they can attend private schools, those private schools are not required to administer state-mandated standardized tests. While I do not support using standardized test scores to measure teacher effectiveness, the tests do provide some measure of student learning, albeit a snapshot.
I am a public school teacher, and I believe in the notion of a social contract that ensures education for all children. That contract includes funding public schools from the taxes that everyone pays. I also believe that people are free to enroll their children in private schools, but when they do so, they are responsible for paying the private school tuition over and above the taxes they pay that go for public education.
Public schools educate ALL children, and as citizens of this country, we should work hard to ensure that they are funded at levels that will make this possible.
No one, especially teachers who love children and hold their profession close to their hearts, wants to hear stories about "failing" public schools. But when funds for these public schools are taken from the school and given to families so they can enroll their children in a private school, there is no guarantee that the private school will provide the education they are looking for, and students in the public school are hurt. The best thing to do is to adequately fund public schools.
The graphic above shows what I think about vouchers.
When states give vouchers to families so that their children can attend private schools, they take money away from public schools - the very schools that are charged with providing each and every student with "FAPE", a free and appropriate public education. All students are entitled to FAPE - typical students, special needs students, gifted students, nice students, naughty students, poor students, privileged students - ALL students.
Many people do not know that when states give vouchers to students so that they can attend private schools, those private schools are not charged with providing education to "all" students. They don't accept all students; that is why they are private. Most private schools are not equipped or staffed to serve the needs of special needs students or English language learners and therefore, they do not take these students and are not by law required to take them.
Many people do also not know that when states give vouchers to students so that they can attend private schools, those private schools are not required to administer state-mandated standardized tests. While I do not support using standardized test scores to measure teacher effectiveness, the tests do provide some measure of student learning, albeit a snapshot.
I am a public school teacher, and I believe in the notion of a social contract that ensures education for all children. That contract includes funding public schools from the taxes that everyone pays. I also believe that people are free to enroll their children in private schools, but when they do so, they are responsible for paying the private school tuition over and above the taxes they pay that go for public education.
Public schools educate ALL children, and as citizens of this country, we should work hard to ensure that they are funded at levels that will make this possible.
No one, especially teachers who love children and hold their profession close to their hearts, wants to hear stories about "failing" public schools. But when funds for these public schools are taken from the school and given to families so they can enroll their children in a private school, there is no guarantee that the private school will provide the education they are looking for, and students in the public school are hurt. The best thing to do is to adequately fund public schools.
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