The debate concerning school vouchers has intensified over the last half decade with different politicians and studies describing the school vouchers impacts differently. Thomas discusses the issues related to school vouchers. Chapter 16 of the book Politics in States and Communities, (Dye, & MacManus, 2015), the authors discusses the disparities resulting from the race and economic status. In need for equality, school vouchers are among the proposed entities, but they are also dangerous due to their adverse effect. By describing school vouchers as programs that allow parents to move their tax money from the public schools to private schools if they choose to move their children from public to private schools.
Advantages
It is evident that under the previous law and limitations, parents were constrained from moving their children to private schools. The parents moving their kids to private schools had to pay too much money that is, they had to continue their public school’s contributions and the higher school fees in private schools. The school voucher program limits these hindrances thus freeing the parents and offering more choices on where to educate their children. The vouchers also provide the opportunity for students from low-income families the opportunities to study in private schools thus reducing the discrimination based on economic status. The move will enhance these students’ chances of gaining a higher education as private schools students have a 93% chance of achieving higher education (Dye, & MacManus, 2015). These opportunities will help in shaping future income gaps with the level of education being among the determinants of the future salaries.
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Disadvantages
The opponents of school vouchers argue that the program violates the separation of state and church with most of the private schools being endorsed by churches or religious groups. As many as 80% of the private schools have religious backing hence it is not right to use taxpayer’s funds to support such institutions (Dye, & MacManus, 2015). The other issue is the disparity where children from a particular religious’ belief cannot attend a school that does not practice the same religion which contributes to religious discrimination. The issue of depriving value and level of public schools is complicated due to recent studies depicting that the move enhances the level of education even in public schools which is contrary to critics of the school vouchers.
The heated debate seems to be favoring the proponents of school vouchers with more states implementing it, but the opponents have a valid reason to oppose the move. It is not possible for private schools to accommodate all children thus the states and national government should take the cons more seriously.
Reference
Dye, T. R., & MacManus, S. A. (2015). Politics in states and communities .
