Governor Bobby Jindal restores hope to Louisiana’s parents and students – winning a major victory against the teachers union. Under his plan, parents will be given a voucher equal to the amount that the State pays for publicly educating children and allows them to put it toward a private school of their choice. In honor of this monumental victory, I have listed the Top 4 Vouches for School Vouchers.
1. Choice:
Imagine going shoe shopping only to find that all the stores only offer one shoe size. Let’s say they offer size six, but you wear a size seven. You won’t be very happy. You would want more choices – a better selection – because in this case one size doesn’t fit all. It is the same with education. Public schools use standardized systems, methods, teachers, testing, timing, and textbooks. The problem is that students are not standardized. They are individuals and as individuals they have different needs, strengths and ambitions. This is one reason why school vouchers are so great. Vouchers give parents choices. Instead of enrolling their son or daughter in a school simply because it is the one assigned, vouchers give parents and students the option to find a school that is best suited to meet their individual needs.
2. Can’t be Beat, when you Compete:
Imagine a world without competition. Let’s say you take your car into a mechanic shop – the only mechanic shop in town. The mechanic takes two weeks to give you a quote. After all, he is in no hurry. It is not like you can take your business elsewhere. Then he gives you the quote. It is an outrageous price, but how would you know? There is no one to give you a second opinion. So you agree to pay. Four weeks later your car is finally ready. You regrettably pay the the rude mechanic and drive you car home. However, on the way home you discover that your car is running worst than ever. Totally frustrated, you take it back to the incompetent, corrupt, overly priced, lazy mechanic, because he is the only option you have!
Well, that is pretty much the story of every parent that can’t afford to home school or pay private tuition. This is another great reason to introduce school vouchers. Competition brings out the best in individuals and organizations. So, why shouldn’t public schools be forced to compete for our business?
3. More for the Money:
We often view private schools as “expensive.” Probably because most families can’t afford to pay taxes to fund public education and then fund a private one for each of their children as well. Also, people assume cost and value are directly related. So, they assume poor quality public schools must be “cheap” schools and high quality private schools must be “expensive” schools. However, the opposite is true. On average, private schools cost less! The tuition at most private schools is below the national average of public schools.
4. Common Sense:
Finally, school vouchers are common sense. If we are paying a particular school to educate our children, but that school is failing to do so, it makes sense to stop paying that school and give vouchers for students to attend schools that can do a better job. If a public school is doing its job, then that school will have nothing to worry about.
Of course, I am sure there are lots of other reasons to support school vouchers. If you can think of some, please leave a comment. Also, if you have a different view point, we love to hear all sides.
we support school vouchers!!!
Thanks Annmarie! Hopefully more states will follow Louisiana’s example.
I argued in favor of vouchers in an undergrad education class – and it ended up being one of my two B’s in my college career. Funny thing was I ended up teaching the professor’s daughter the next year… in a private school!
That is so funny and so typical. Yeah, my husband has a few funny stories about biased college professors. One professor would destroy his paper over “poor grammar” every time he voiced a contrary opinion. The funny thing was my husband was editor and chief for his high school’s newspaper and was also a paid writer for the university’s newspaper. So, he took one of his essays to an free editing session with a university english professor. Guess what, he still got marked down for grammar. After getting marked down, he returned to the english professor who told him that the grammar was perfect and the other professor was wrong. Then, he went back to the biased professor and told him the whole story. The professor agreed to revisit the essay. A day later, my husband got his paper back. He got 100% for grammar, but was marked down for using faulty logic and have a narrow-minded view point! The grade was the same. Got to love those “biased” college professors.
Anyways, thanks for commenting. I’m sure you are a great teacher!
Would love to see vouchers everywhere! We ditched public school when our daughters were headed into 2nd and 5th grade. They did more, learned more, the kids were taught to respect authority, spelling counted, etc.
I was involved with a charter school committee over 20 years ago, but couldn’t get anywhere. Our local school board had the veto power over whether or not a charter school could start up. Can you imagine if any fast food franchise had the same power over whether or not a competitor could come into town?
What a great thing you are doing for your daughters. I bet they are really smart!
That is really sad about the charter school. I can imagine how frustrating that would be. All you want is to help the children get a better education. It seems like it’s not about the kids anymore.
You might like this post too https://www.trueaimeducation.com/2012/04/its-not-about-your-union-its-about-our.html Thanks for your thoughtful comment!
I was in education for twelve years before moving in a different direction this past year, and they were all spent in either a charter school or a private school. While every option has it’s pros and cons, I believe parents should have just that–options! Really glad to have found you on NOBH.
Love and God Bless,
Christy
Hi Christy! The people most passionate about this issue are people who were in the system and see it’s faults, just like you. Thanks so much for your comment.