COLUMN: More school options are best choice
Touted as an unsinkable ship of social progress for more than a century, public schooling is leaking badly. Public opinion is staggering, achievement is low and public opinion on what should be taught is an ever-increasing issue tearing at the system. For some areas, such as inner city schools, it is too late. Their public education system is sunk. Destroying any chance thousands of kids will have to receive a good education.
I am a direct product of school choice. During my senior year of high school I felt that I was wasting my time, so I enrolled in early college. This was one of the best decisions I made in high school. I attended a good high school; the problem with it was the lack of academic challenge. I was bothered by my counselors’ reaction when I approached them with the idea of attending early college. They tried to influence me to stay and take a year of worthless classes, versus finishing a year of college. I know that my senior year would have been a low academe year and I would have wasted my time. By allowing me to go to early college I progressed faster and used the tax payers’ money more efficiently.
The problem with my decision to attend early college is that I took money out of K-12 schools. This argument is one of the major claims to why we shouldn’t have school choice. People fear that if we let our students take money to the private sector it will destroy public schools. I find this a false assumption.
Milwaukee is an example of where school choice has helped the school system.
According to John F. Witte, “the parents of ‘choice’ kids are virtually unanimous in their opinion of the program: They love it. Parents are not only far more satisfied with their freely chosen private schools than they were with their former public schools; they participate more actively in their children’s education now that they’ve made the move.” If by giving people the “choice” of school it brings the parents into the educational process, how can this be a bad choice?
People like to argue about the economics of school choice. Claims are made that it will destroy the public sector. This is untrue, it will force public schools to modernize its core curriculum. Take my high school for an example. If they felt threatened by more students leaving they would design a stronger academic year for its seniors in order to keep them there. I would have had more AP classes and a chance to gain more college credit. Public school has had no major competition. Without competition, industries will not grow as fast or be forced to modernize. The public school is a monopoly and with a little assistance to the private sector it could change the entire schooling system. America could become competitive in the world for its education.
I am a supporter of public choice. I chose to use it and the benefits were great. I received a better education and started to finish college early. Many “choice” programs across the United States have seen the same benefits. Parents are getting more involved, test scores are higher, and overall education is increasing.
Spencer Lloyd is a junior majoring in business information systems. Comments can be sent to shlloyd@cc.usu.edu.