Image Courtesy of CNN

With the current Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos and the Trump administration, charter schools and voucher programs are becoming a hot topic of conversation in the American education system. People have varying feelings on these different types of schooling. Some people believe that the public schools are not providing a good enough education for students while others believe that charter schools are not credible institutions in which to send students. This week I will discuss the varying viewpoints on the Charter and Voucher School Programs in the US education system.

The overarching name for charter schools, home schools, voucher schools etc. is called school choice. The original premise of school choice is the belief that there are fundamental things wrong with the American Public Education system. One of the major flaws with the system is the allocation of schools based on residency. I’m sure you are all familiar with this idea and how school districts are mapped for certain residency areas. We all know that there are bad public schools out there, and if you live in one of these district’s areas, then you have to attend that public school… unless you choose to go to a charter school that you might think is better; this is the premise of charter schools and voucher schools.

Before I go any further, I want to point out that there is a difference between charter schools and voucher schools. Charter schools are publicly funded institutions. This means that if you go to a charter school, your public school must pay your tuition at the charter school. Charter schools are exempt from state and local education laws, but they do need to have certain standards in their charter. These standards are monitored and school districts must meet these standards or their charters can be revoked.

Image Courtesy of Rethinking Schools

Voucher schools on the other hand are private institutions that simply accept voucher dollars. These “dollars” also come from the student’s public school and it is a set amount of money that each student can receive from the district each year and spend at a different institution. Part of the issue that many people have with voucher programs is the idea that students are treated like objects. Essentially each student has a price tag attached and then they are viewed as retail and essentially bargained for between districts. Another issue with voucher programs stems from areas like Philadelphia and New York City where there are a lot of families of lower socioeconomic statuses in minority groups. Even with voucher programs, many of these students cannot afford to go to a better school because their parents cannot afford to pay the difference between the private school’s tuition and the voucher money; thus white students from wealthy families tend to populate the private schools and receive a better education than they might receive from the public schools.

The belief that charter schools and voucher programs offer a more quality education than the public schools is not always accurate. Because these schools essentially make up their own standards and rules, the education is not always superior to the public system. Often times voucher programs are used for schools that specialize in something specific; this can be a good thing especially if your student knows that they want to do something in music or the arts or even science. These schools are also called “magnet schools” because they attract students based on these specialized programs and often accept voucher money.

On the other hand, charter schools and voucher programs often hurt the public schools in the area because a lot of funding is being taken away from that district. Because public schools have the obligation to pay charter schools or give students voucher money, many public schools are losing resources and thus providing a lesser education because of school choice. In charter and voucher schools, teachers do not even need to be licensed to be teaching. If we really want students to receive a “better” education, is sending them to a school with unqualified teachers and no standards really the best option? I’ll let you decide for yourself.

Image Courtesy of IFPTE21

Betsy DeVos and President Trump are pro-school choice. The current administration wants to expand charter and voucher programs to make better education available to all students. Using this language has increased the public support for school choice supporters, but there are key things missing from this argument. As I mentioned earlier, some families still cannot afford a better education for their children even with the voucher money. Also, voucher money and charter school tuition is paid for with tax dollars, which a lot of citizens fail to realize. I guess we will see where this debate takes us in the upcoming years in the public education system! There are certainly many benefits and drawbacks to school choice in the United States.  Let me know in the comments if you have any ideas about charter schools or voucher programs.