School voucher systems and educational outcomes: a policy analysis

School Voucher System

WHY WAS IT WRITTEN?

Proponents - believe voucher systems increase parent choice regarding school attendance for their children. (AFT, accessed 2002b).

Opponents - voucher systems do not give parents full choice - they are limited by size of tuition and fact that private and parochial schools can choose their students and may not admit the child in question

AFT Position - Supports the right to use private schools; opposes the use of public funds to help pay for it.

Reasons (AFT, accessed 2002b):

That money could go to public schools that are available to all children

That public school is essential to democracy

That public schools are more accountable to taxpayers than private or parochial ones

That private and parochial schools often pick their students in biased ways

That voucher systems do not improve student education

D. What research shows improves educational outcomes (AFT, accessed 2002b)

reducing class size

using best practices to teach

II. WHAT VALUES DOES IT ENDORSE?

A. This bill endorses the idea of parental choice for parents regarding how they raise their children, including the choice of educational setting for them.

B. The bill argues that parents with limited financial means by definition have fewer educational choices, since they can't afford private school tuition.

C. Critics argue that since such bills provide limited amounts of money, such a program doesn't really increase choices for most places.

1. Only $2,000 - will not cover all tuition

2. Can provide $500 for such things as tutoring, but in many places, good tutors charge $35 an hour. That would be only about 14 hours of tutoring, not enough to make much of a difference for most struggling students.

III. WHAT WOULD BE THE IMPACT OF THE BILL IF ADOPTED?

A. Overview. Although in theory, McCain's bill does not come out of educational funds, 1. The reality is that our congressional representatives struggle to provide a balanced budget.

2.When they look at how much money is being spent on education, they will include the voucher program.

3. Money that goes to voucher programs cannot go to any kind of educational benefits that all students could benefit from.

B. This is of great concern to educators because many school districts are already strapped for money.

V. CONCLUSIONS

A. McCain said "... we all know that one of the most important issues facing our nation is the education of our children... A solid education for our children also lays a pivotal role in the success of our nation..."

B. What McCain says is true. The question is how to get there. The American Federation of Teachers argues that these decisions should be based on research and best practices so we can be certain we are doing the best we can to achieve those goals.

C. Is all change good?

1. Charter schools - first embraced as an alternative, most now follow standard curriculum (AFT, accessed 2002a).

2. The American Federation has shown strong interest in maintaining the highest educational standards. They have looked at the issue of charter schools and have a list of standards they believe, as professionals, that charter schools should meet. Other major educational changes, such as vouchers, should also have to meet rigorous standards so that our children are not simply experimented upon.

3. Education has been criticized for years for embracing new ideas too easily. This time it's our Congress doing it. Our congressional representatives such experts on education that they can ignore well done research?

Summary of Bill S. 717:

Educating America's Children Today"

On April 1, 2001, Senator John McCain of Arizona introduced a bill to congress that would provide for a voucher system in education. According to his press release, the goal is to provide increased educational opportunities for disadvantaged students (Ives, 2001).

Section 1 of the bill states that the purpose of the bill is to "level the playing field' somewhat, so that low-income families can choose between public and private schools just as families with more financial resources can do (United States Senate, 2001). The authors of the bill state in the first section that they expect this bill to "... improve schools and other academic programs by giving parents in low-income families increased consumer power to choose the schools and programs that the parents determine best fit the needs of their children..." (2, 1 [1] [B]). The bill provides for funding and methods to evaluate its success or failure.

The bill provides for distribution of the funds and restricts its use for administrative purposes. They define what schools are eligible. The bill provides a maximum of $2,000 per child, and makes the money available to families whose income is 200% of the government-set poverty line or less. The scholarships are to be distributed using a lottery system. One of the provisions allows the parents to get money for supplemental educational services of the parents' choice. This bill also specifically does not dictate curriculum or other educational issues.

The bill proposes to evaluate the success of this program by comparing the educational achievement of students who use the voucher student with similar students who do not use it, and by comparing that achievement to the achievement of students in the schools the voucher students would have attended had the scholarship not been available.