Usman 1

Fareaa Usman
Cindy Rogers
English 12
13 March 2015
School Vouchers
The concept and distribution of school vouchers has played to be an ongoing
controversy since the first school voucher was passed in 1989. This occurred in the
Milwaukee School District when they began offering tuition aid to low income families up
to about $2,500, from lottery. However, for the first five to eight years, they were only
capable of providing for approximately 1,700 students. After some time, the State
allowed more students to be eligible to receive the aid. Soon they had opened a private
schooling option for religious establishments, soon increasing the value of the vouchers
and broadening school choice.
The essential aspect of school choice is giving all parents the chance to be
integral participants in their childrens education. (Milton and Rose Friedman). Studies
have shown that students show better results in education and citizenship if their
parents are more involved. However, with the concept of school choice starts the worry
of payment for private schooling, which is where the debate on vouchers begins. Now
almost 26,000 students in Milwaukee, Ohio are using vouchers to attend private
schools, allowing the public education spending to reach more than $150 million
annually. This greatly increased the less than 60% of high school freshman that

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eventually graduated grades and the citys public system. A modified choice program is
going to give people a choice, especially poor people who are locked into a school
district that they have no opportunity to decide if thats a good school district for their
sons and daughters, said Tommy Thomson, the governor at the time (Milwaukee
Parental Choice Program).
The high cost of private schooling gives poorer families a disadvantage of not
being able to financially support such education for their children. Parents start to want
higher performing places for educating their children but are not capable of paying off
the high tuition costs, causing many to lean on government aid. The basic concept of a
voucher is to partially or fully pay off school costs for students who are incapable of
paying for a higher rank or private education; hence allowing more admissions. As part
of the traditional American culture and society, parents are fully capable of choosing
private schools to public schools. Despite this constitutional point of view, public schools
rely very little on marketing and choice. Many of our public schools are controlled by
government officials that control the education and structure of the systems.
Nonetheless, over the years choice of public schooling has slightly evolved to the extent
where we are capable of choosing a school from several cities and in many cases
different districts. Verily, it gives a good reason for parents to choose a private schooling
option in the region.
One of the highest arguments arises in regard to the students academic ability to
be enrolled in the school. The concept of public schooling requires them to accept a
variety of children not matter their religion, academic integrity or if they have special
needs. Taking into account that many private schools are for gifted or honor students,

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placing students who earn less than the recommended GPA or test scores brings down
the education of the school; Even though it is not politically accurate . A study was
conducted in three cities to determine whether voucher recipients, of any racial
background, showed any significant test score improvements over the course of two
years. Statistics show that over the course of one year, the math scores of African
Americans increased 5.5% over one year; however, no convincing evidence showed an
improvement in year 2. Signs from the table also show that there is no impact in regards
to racial background either. The table shown below shows the information stated;

Year 1
City/
Grade/tes
t
New York
Grade
2/5

Gain

African American Pupils

Year
Year 2
2
Sampl
Sample
e
size

Gain

size

Math

7.0**

623 4.1*

497

Reading

4.6**

623 4.5**

497

Math

7.3**

9.9**
891 *

700

Reading
Grade
2/5

9.0**

891 8.1**

700

9.8**

10.0*
620 *

490

-5.1

620 8.6**

490

1.5

270 12.8*

210

D.C
Overall

Math
Reading
Grade
6/8
Math

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Reading

-19.0***

270

7.8

210

5.3

273

Dayton
Grade
2/8
Math

0.4

296

Reading

6.1

296 7.6*

All Other Ethnic Groups

Year 2
Sample
size
Gain

Year 1
City/
Grade/test
New York
Grade 2/5

Gain

273

Sample
Size

Math

-2.1

817

-3.2

497

Reading

-1.3

817

0.2

497

Math

8.5

39

5.8

44

Reading
Grade 2/5

6.3

39

-5.6

44

-0.8

108

96

2.8

108

-0.4

96

D.C
Overall

Dayton
Grade 2/8
Math
Reading

* Statistically significant at 10% level

**significant at 5% level
***significant at 1% level
Note: Grade4 signifies grade entered in first year of study.

(Conroy, 13)

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Effects for all students are positive and small but the estimates are not precise enough
to draw any conclusions. For the small number of non-minority students (those who are
not African American or Hispanic), statistically insignificant, negative impacts are
estimated.(Matthew M. Chingos and Paul E. Peterson). Thus, the true outcome of
increasing grades based enrolling students, of any ethnic group, into private schooling
stays hardly negotiable.
Contrastingly, many students are capable of meeting the required academic
eligibility of such schools. Concerns still arise however, when these students are not
able to fulfill the financial cost of being placed into private schools; hence, the need for
vouchers. This separates many rich and poor families from having more school choice
opportunities than others. Wealthier families are able to provide for the high tuition
costs, leaving poorer families to turn to only public schooling choices. The Columbus
Dispatch, A daily paper from Columbus, Ohio, released an editorial on school vouchers
benefiting poor families in their region. The editorial states the importance of education
necessary for every child in the state, causing the EdChoice voucher to take action.
Every child in Ohio should have access to the education necessary to succeed in
today's world and realize his or her dreams(Chad Aldis) This voucher provides low
income families the option of achieving a better education for their children. This starts
the rapid growth of voucher programs within the state for poorer families.
One of the longest school voucher studies, taking about 15 years, was
conducted in New York starting 1997 by Professor Paul Peterson, from Harvard
University. 2,666 financially unstable students ranging in elementary school ages were
given New York Choice Scholarships. In other words, they were given $1,400 annually

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for three years, but with continued use they were provided until the eighth grade. It was
noticed that college enrollment rates for these pupils increased by 24 percent. Another
study was conducted in 2010 by the Department of Educations Institution of
Educational Sciences. The concluded result was that it increases high school
graduation results by almost 12%. The vouchers have improved the prospects of more
than 5,200 D.C. children who would otherwise be trapped in public schools rated most
"in need of improvement" (Washington Examiner). It is stated that some private and
religious schools will help provide students ranging from elementary and middle school
levels with approximately $8,136 per year, with high school students receiving around
$12,200.
Education has been one of the most underlying topics of national debate and
conflict. However, over the last few centuries school choice, exclusively school
vouchers, have been of the highest contentious issues on subject. According to
Education Week, at its most basic and uncontroversial, school choice is a reform
movement focused on affording parents the right to chose which school their child
attends(PBS SoCal) Centuries of studies and tests have been conducted from authors
to university professors to government officials to see the true impact of such programs,
all of which show educational and financial improvements throughout various cities.
With the studies shown, there was no significant racial impact on these studies. Parties
opposing such aid provide their own studies, much of which are contradictory towards
their own opinions. Though this continuing argument still stands without a conclusion,
school vouchers have shown significant impacts to thousands of students over the
nation, giving many the rights to have freedom for their desired education.

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Works Cited
Messerli, Joe. "BalancedPolitics.org - School Vouchers (Pros & Cons, Arguments For and
Against, Advantages & Disadvantages)." BalancedPolitics.org - School Vouchers (Pros
& Cons, Arguments For and Against, Advantages & Disadvantages). Web. 10
Feb. 2015. <http://www.balancedpolitics.org/school_vouchers.htm>

"School Vouchers Overview." PBS. PBS, 26 Mar. 2004. Web. 12 Mar. 2015.

"Milwaukee Voucher Program Turns 25: The History." Milwaukee Voucher Program Turns 25:
The History. Web. 11 Mar. 2015.

"School Vouchers." International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. 2008, PETER

COOKSON, "School Vouchers." Dictionary of American History. 2003, "school
Vouchers." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th Ed.. 2014, and "school Voucher." The
Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009.

"School Vouchers." Encyclopedia.com. HighBeam Research, 1 Jan. 2008. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/sc
hool_vouchers.aspx>.

Op-Ed, PennLive. "Benefits of School Vouchers Outweigh the Negative Aspects." Web. 12 Feb.

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2015.
<http://www.pennlive.com/editorials/index.ssf/2011/02/benefits_of_school_vouchers_ou
.html>.

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"The Future of Children, Princeton - Brookings: Providing Research and Analysis to Promote
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"School Vouchers Help Low-income Minority Students Earn a College Degree." RSS. 7 Jan.
2015. Web. 10 Mar. 2015. <http://educationnext.org/school-vouchers-help-low-incomeminority-students-earn-college-degree/>.

"Why America Needs School Vouchers." The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice RSS.
Web. 12 Feb. 2015. <http://www.edchoice.org/The-Friedmans/The-Friedmans-onSchool-Choice/Why-America-Needs-School-Vouchers.aspx>.

"Apecsec.org." Apecsecorg. Web. 12 Feb. 2015. <http://apecsec.org/school-vouchers-pros-andcons/>.

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Carnoy, Martin. School Vouchers: Examining the Evidence. Washington: Economic Policy
Insitute, 2001. Print.

Carnoy, Martin. School Vouchers: Examining the Evidence. Washington, D.C.: Economic Policy
Institute, 2001. Print.

Moe, Terry M. Schools, Vouchers, and the American Public. Washington, D.C.: Brookings
Institution, 2001. Print.

Moe, Terry M. Schools, Vouchers, and the American Public. Washington, D.C.: Brookings
Institution, 2001. Print.

Wang, Margaret C., and Herbert J. Walberg. School Choice Or Best Systems What Improves
Education? Hoboken: Taylor and Francis, 2001. Print.

Wolf, Patrick J. School Voucher Programs: What the Research Says About Parental School
Choice. 2008. 32. Print.

Garner, Walt. "School Vouchers Don't Help Neediest Students." LA Times 3 May 2003. Print.

Meredith, Teresa. "Voucher Schemes Don't Help Students." US News. U.S.News & World
Report. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.

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<http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2013/04/12/school-vouchers-dont-helpstudents-succeed>.

"Voucher Study Focuses on High School Graduation D.C. Evaluation Provides First Strong
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"School Vouchers Help Low-income Minority Students Earn a College Degree." RSS. 7 Jan.
2015. Web. 10 Mar. 2015. <http://educationnext.org/school-vouchers-help-low-incomeminority-students-earn-college-degree/>.

Aldis, Chad. "School Vouchers Vital to Poorer Families." The Columbus Dispatch 25 Apr. 2010,
Opinion sec. Print.

"New Study Affirms Benefits of School Vouchers." Washington Examiner 28 Aug. 2012: 1.
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