For the St. Louis American
All parents that I talk to – especially minority parents – are very clear about what they want for their children’s education. They want what America’s wealthiest parents already have: schools with high standards, excellent teachers and up-to-date textbooks and technology; and they want those schools to be right in their neighborhoods. I heartily agree.
Bear in mind that 85 percent of America’s most affluent, most educated parents send their children to public schools. These are people who can afford to send their children to the best school, whether public or private. The most affluent opt for public schools for the simple but compelling reason that their public schools are outstanding. In this competitive marketplace, the public schools win, hands down.
So the question is: If affluent students get to attend great public schools, why shouldn’t every child?
After all, we live in the richest nation in the world. We’ve got the resources, the know-how, and the people to provide every child with a great public school.
But instead of helping public schools that are in need, some people would rather take already scarce resources and give them to private schools.
Let’s be clear. Vouchers are not about pedagogy, they are about ideology. Voucher advocates feel that education – a basic right for every child – should be opened up to the “free market.” But a quality education has nothing to do with whether a school is private or public. What counts are small class sizes, high-quality teachers, modern facilities, rigorous academic standards, plus the resources to offer individualized assistance to students who need help. What counts is the political and budgetary commitment to create great public schools everywhere, including low-income neighborhoods.
Parents don’t want the false “choice” of vouchers. They want the real “choice” to send their children to high-quality public schools in their neighborhoods. Most middle-and-upper-income families already have this choice.
The reality is that the so-called “choice” of vouchers resides not with parents, but the private school admissions committees, which can exclude children they deem “inappropriate.” In Florida, the first state to enact a statewide voucher system, parents learned all about the “choice” promised by vouchers. More than 90 percent of private and parochial schools in Florida refused to accept any voucher students.
Research shows that voucher students do no better than their peers in public schools, while voucher programs siphon money away from the public schools. Vouchers increase education costs, by requiring taxpayers to fund two school systems, one public and another private.
Take the money invested in vouchers, and invest it instead in reducing class sizes in public schools, and you will see student achievement rise, especially among minority students, and discipline problems decline. Plus, small class size is the gift that keeps on giving. Children who had small classes in their early grades are much more likely to stay in school, earn a high school diploma and go to college.
Each year, about $65 million dollars is spent by foundations and wealthy individuals to promote vouchers. In fact, since 1966, voucher measures have been placed before voters 22 times in 13 states and the District of Columbia. But when voucher proposals are put on the ballot, the public votes them down.
It’s time we send a clear message to our public officials: It is unacceptable to write off our children. You must do what it takes and spend what it costs to provide every child in America with a great public school. And you must do it now.
Reg Weaver, a middle school teacher from Harvey, Illinois, is president of the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers union.
