Parent choice, Vouchers, and Public Education

The public school system in America is based on ideology dating back to the Rosetta Stone Italian founders of our country; that all men are created equal, a democratic society must prevail, and that the only way to accomplish these altruistic ideals is through an educational system designed to promote these fundamental concepts. Due to the current state of crisis in our public school system, (i.e., failing schools, falling test scores, urban reformation needs, under-funding, high needs students, overwhelmed teachers, and etc.), the issue of school vouchers is once again being examined.Education and DemocracyThe American government, and the society in which we live, are both based upon the concept of democracy. A strong democracy should be pervasive within all aspects of society and social life. John Dewey and Jane Addams were instrumental in shaping our current educational system. Their methods included a process of unbewildering the public through social knowledge' by way of public education (MacPherson, 1977).Initially, our universal, publicly-funded education' system became the foundation in creating and sustaining our burgeoning democratic nation (Cortez, 1999). Our public school system, helped to foster the democratic skills and virtues for collaboration with other citizens socially, politically, and economically,'(Smith, 2005). However, in recent years, public education has been attacked. Schools are being called monopolies,' which are forcing children to be confined to schools nearest their homes. The public school system is Rosetta Stone Japanese accused of forcing children to attend inferior schools and preventing equal opportunity for low-income parents (West, 1997). As schools and communities declare war on the conditions of distress and underdevelopment found in these marginalized urban spaces,' and they start down the road of radically reconstructing them, a new story will emerge, and once again the masses will fill the streets of hope, (Taylor, 2002).School VouchersThe debate regarding vouchers and parental choice arose under the auspices of restructuring the means of how public education is organized and financially supported throughout the country, and allowing parents the right to shop for the education they wanted for their children (Cortez, 1999). The educational voucher system allows the government to make payments to families in order that they may have the choice of allowing their children to attend public schools or private schools (West, 1997). The principles and practices involved in parental choice and publicly funded vouchers are currently a hotly contested debate. Some believe that through these new programs and supports; we are approaching an extraordinary era in education,' (Shore, 1997). Proponents espouse the ideal in which the voucher plans enable parents of low-income households to be provided greater educational choice and involvement for their children (Fischer, Schimmel, Stellman, 2003). Others believe that voucher systems would fundamentally threaten the autonomy of independent schools (West, 1997), violate the principles of the separation of church and state (School Vouchers: The Wrong Choice for Public Education, 2006), promote segregation in schools (Tucker Lauber, 1995), Rosetta Stone Korean and threaten the very system of public education that our country cherishes as the foundation of our democratic society,' (Smith, 2005). The president and citizens of our country are in agreement that we must revamp the educational system to meet the needs of the twenty-first-century of prosperity and high technology. Without appropriate reform and educational supports, students will not arrive at school with a zest to learn, (Schorr, 1997) nor the social capital required to be successful (Rury Murel, 2004). American Policy makers are focusing on education as an impetus to promote the concept of equal opportunity for citizens today (Howell Peterson, 2002), as historically, the public education system's contribution to equal opportunity has been ambiguous at best, (Howell Peterson, 2002). Almost anyone who visits in the schools of East St. Louis, even for a short time, comes away profoundly shaken. These are innocent children, after all. They have done nothing wrong. They have committed no crime. They are too young to have offended us in any way at all.