(06-13-2017, 10:43 AM)flsprtsgod Wrote:

(06-13-2017, 10:32 AM)MalabarJag Wrote: The money to pay for the schools would still come from the government. Each student would receive an allocation and it couldn't be used for anything but school tuition, sort of like what a SNAP card does for food. The money would be tied to the students instead of the schools, and the students' parents would be free to spend it at any school they choose. Poorly run schools would languish, better ones would thrive. Real competition for students' money = an incentive to improve.

Of course deadbeat parents wouldn't make much effort to maximize their child's benefit, but deadbeat parents also one of the biggest problems with the current government school system.

All that would get you is a series of publicly funded diploma mills and waiting lists to get into the good schools followed by geographic assignment for those students who don't make the cut. You'd also suffer adverse selection as the higher performing schools develop methods to keep lower performing students out so they can keep their ratings high. Getting into high school shouldn't be like getting into college, but every high school should provide the same education to every child at no direct cost.

I think we're already there.

A voucher system provides parents with options in the event the school closest to them geographically is not capable of providing a quality education. 

Getting into public magnate schools in DCPS is very much like getting into college already, right down to the fairs the system runs to provide parents with as much information as possible about their options.  So, the culture already exists for parents who want to explore magnate options. 

I agree that every high school should provide the same education to every child at no direct cost.  The reality is very different.  You've got teachers who are protected from losing their jobs because of unions even if they're under-performing.  You've got parents who honestly don't care about the education their children are receiving, so they don't press the kids or hold the schools accountable.  As a result, you've got students who have adopted a similar attitude to their parents, and a school that has become apathetic because there's only so much they can do to discipline kids.

The public school system in the traditional sense is broken.  There are still very good public schools, and there are some really bad ones.  Allowing the system to flush out the bad ones will improve the overall quality of the education children receive.  Giving parents options beyond the school they're geographically tied to has proven to be an effective tool in improving the educational outcome.

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