Ethical investigation of school choice in the U.S.

School choice has been a hotly debated issue over the past fifteen years. School choice is an important issue because of the importance of receiving a good education and the prevalence of failing public schools throughout the nation. The purpose of this discussion is to investigate the issue of school choice. The research will also explore the ethical principles and standards associated with school choice and the teaching profession. Finally the discourse will summarize my conclusions and recommendations concerning steps that educators can make towards resolving or eradicating the issue of school choice.

School Choice

Throughout the country there is a serious problem with the public education system in many cities. These problems are associated with low test grades, high attrition rates amongst high-schoolers, students performing below their grade level and high turnover rates amongst teachers (Moe, 2001). As a result of this issue of low performing schools teachers and state governments alike have adapted policies that involve the concept of school choice. In fact, Cullen et al. (2005) explains, "The current leading elementary and secondary education reform proposals involve introducing accountability through forms of market-based competition and expanded parental choice (Cullen et al. 2005, 729-730)." Furthermore Hastings et al. (2006) explain that "School choice plans are intended to improve both equity and efficiency- to provide incentives for schools to compete on the basis of academic achievement and to provide broader access to quality schools (Hastings et al. 2005, 3) ."

Overall school choice is designed to give parents a choice concerning the school that their children attend. Such choices are seen as necessary in certain neighborhoods where schools are failing. In many instances schools within the same distriict have vastly different levels of academic achievement. In addition in most cases the schools that have exceptional academic achievement are located in wealthier neighborhoods, while school with failing academics are located in poor neighborhoods.

The concept of school choice actually has economic foundations. That is, in an economy of free enterprise the concept of competition is designed to provide consumers with the highest quality product at the lowest cost. For instance stores such as Wal-Mart have gained the competitive advantage in every market because the company is able to provide inexpensive products that have the same or better quality than the competition.

In an economic sense, competition is also important because it also weeds out week companies.

School choice employs this line of thinking as a way to improve the education system. The idea is that competition amongst schools will cause low performing schools to either close or improve their performance. When underperforming schools close or improve their performance students (who are the consumers) benefit because the quality of education is improved. Ideally the concept of competition within the context of school choice would ultimately benefit the entire American education system because only the best schools would remain open.

Pros and Cons of School Choice

As with any issue, there are pros and cons associated with school choice. According to Cullen et al. (2005),

"Proponents claim that increased choice will force the current system of local monopolies to become more responsive and efficient. Critics worry that increased choice will isolate the most disadvantaged students in the worst schools and that parents may not be informed enough to make choices in the best interests of their children. There is a growing body of theoretical and empirical work that presents a mixed picture of the net impact of various forms of choice (Cullen et al. 2005,

Indeed the primary advantage of school choice is that it will force the education system to become more responsive and efficient. This simply means that the quality of education that students receive will increase and become more cost effect. School choice is also advantageous because it ensures that America's students are able to compete globally. School choice is particuclalarly beneficial to poor and minority students, because these students are more likely to attend underperforming schools. In addiiton these population are also more likely to drop out of school and never recive a high school diploma. People that don't have high school diplomas are more likely to live in poverty and spend time in jail. Overall the research suggest that school choice is needed because it serves that e purpose of improving academic opportunities for students who would not otherwise have access to such opportunities. These educational opportunities are needed because many of these students belong to vulnerable populations that are adversely affected when they do not receive the proper education. School choice, therefore, is beneficial to the entire community because it reduces the number of people without a high school diploma, therefore reducing crime and poverty. This means tha the quality of life is better for everyone.

In addition to these advantages associated with school choice, there are also some disadvantages or cons. The quote above explains that that the primary con of school choice is that it could likely isolate the most disadvantaged students in the worst schools. Many who oppose school choice fear that the proliferation of this option will lead to re-segregation. According to Sikkink and Emerson (2008) The need to understand the current relationship between school choice and racial distributions takes on added importance in light of the re-segregation of public schools in recent decades…which is likely to have strong negative outcomes for students (Sikkink and Emerson, 2008, 268) ." This argument asserts that school choice will do nothing more than increase the disparity between white students and minority students as it pertains to academic achievement. The theory is that minority students will be stuck at failing schools, this is particularly true when school choice procedures involve lotteries or a limited number of school vouchers. In either case there will be students who are left behind and there is no guarantee that the schools they are left behind in will improve in performance.

It is also argued that many parents may not have access to the information needed to make a decision concerning school choice or the academic environment that is most suitable for their children. In fact Sikkink and Emerson (2008) also report that school choice is closely related to the education levels of parents. This means that students who have parents that did not graduate from high school are more likely to remain at low performing schools because they do not understand or have access to information concerning the issue of school choice.

Ethical Principals and Standards associated with School Choice

Ideally, America wants all of its children to receive the best education possible. The fact that this nation spends so much money of education and still lags behind most industrialized nation in the area of education is a travesty. At the current time there seems to be a huge divide between what is expected of teachers and what is being delivered. On the one hand there are many teachers that are excellent educators. These teachers get to school early and go home late. They are extremely dedicated to their students and want them to succeed. On the other hand, there are some teachers that are not properly prepared to teach children. Still in other cases teachers are expected to do too much and they become overwhelmed.

From an ethical perspective all children, regardless of their parents income, should have access to quality education. Proponents of school choice argue that by not providing the option of choice, guarantees that certain populations of students will not have the education necessary to compete with their peers in the future. They argue that society has a moral obligation to guarantee that all students have access to the academic foundation that will benefit them throughout life. In addition, proponents of school choice argue that the absence of such choices will make more difficult for these individuals to stop the cycle of poverty that exist in large part because of a lack of education.

Some scholars also argue that the ethical issues in school choice are also related to whether or not the public school system which is funded by taxpayers should be controlled using democratic methods. According to an article entitled "Racial/Ethnic Diversity and Academic Quality as Components of School Choice,"

"At its most abstract level, the debate over school choice turns on whether an institution funded by taxpayer dollars should be predominantly controlled by democratic methods or predominantly controlled by market forces. In their

wellknown analysis, Chubb and Moe (1990) blame the alleged ills of public education on an excess of democracy. The will of the majority, necessarily expressed through school bureaucracies, stifles professionalism and innovation, resulting in needlessly low student performance. Their solution is to replace collective decision making with that at the individual level. However, as critics often note, this alternative may be accompanied by serious unintended or undesirable consequences (Tedin, Gregory R. Weiher, 2004, 1109)."

This argument simply asserts that democratic methods are not mercenarily the most advantageous as it pertains to public school systems. The authors explain that democratic methods tend to stifle professionalism and innovation. These issues of professionalism and innovation seem to be a major problem in many public schools in America. In recent years these issues have come to light as teachers have been disciplined and even fired for their interactions with students that have been unprofessional and even criminal at times. Teachers have an ethical responsibility to act professionally and when they fell to do so the ability of students to excel academically is also compromised.

The aforementioned authors also mention the lack of innovation that often occurs as a result of using democratic methods. One of the reasons why school choice is even an issue is because the curriculums that have been implemented in public schools lack variety. Part of the reason for this lack of innovation has to do with bureaucracy and government mandates such as the No Child Left Behind Act. This particular act stifles innovation because many teachers feel compelled to teach to the test instead of teaching in a way that will allow students to remember and use what they have learned for a lifetime. In addition, teachers are afraid that if their students do not do well on these assessment tests, the school will be labeled as underperforming. In many cities students at schools that underperform are able to transfer to other schools in the district. This is where school choice can create a real problem for teachers who feel pressured to make sure their students do well even if it means not being innovative in their teaching methods.

Overall the research indicates that school choice can create real ethical dilemmas as it pertains to issues such as re-segregation, teacher professionalism and innovation and using democratic methods in the context of public schools and school choice. All of these ethical issues must be considered when determining whether or not school choice should be a policy adopted by a government.