I have a student who is working on a research paper dealing with educational reform. More specifically, she’s examining the pros/cons of implementing a school voucher system for a metropolitan area. Since I’m advising her in her research paper, it got me thinking about a host of issues pertaining to education reform and voucher systems.
What I would like to propose is something along the lines of a thought experiment. I’ve posted this thread here in great debates, not so much to debate the merits of a voucher system, but rather to generate discussion/ideas on how best to implement a voucher system (or some other system) that tries to achieve the following objectives:
-
An educational system that attempts to educate all children, as a by-product of achieving a larger goal of having an educated population able to function in a modern, democratic society (whereby that type of society is sustained over time).
-
An educational system that affords freedom of choice for parents in deciding what school their children can attend. This being, of course, a by-product of a larger ideal of individuals having the freedom to pursue their own happiness (goals).
I think most people realize that there are problems with the current U. S. public school system. And that there are numerous reasons for why this is the case. But if one were to devise an educational system that attempts to achieve the goals stated above (and both goals are equally important), how would one go about implementing such a system?
The reason I started this was I got to thinking about vouchers as a possible solution. One idea I thought might have some merit was some sort of voucher system whereby vouchers can be exchanged or bought/sold (something along the lines of “pollution credits” proposed by some groups as a means of dealing with pollution).
Or what about “weighting” the vouchers, giving vouchers to parents that live in poor school districts that are “worth” more than to those living in better school districts? There are numerous ways the value of the vouchers could be weighted (income, property values, etc.).
For example, if this were done along property values, this might have an effect whereby people with children will relocate to poorer neighborhoods/school districts to take advantage of the voucher differential. If enough people do this, one possible outcome might be an improvement in the poorer neighborhoods. If property taxes are still used to fund school districts, then the improvement in the neighborhood will help towards improving the schools in the poorer districts. This could then, in turn, impact the voucher system by making those vouchers worth less in the newly improved district.
The above are just a couple of brief examples. If one were to implement a voucher system (or some other system), what might be some possible solutions in devising a system that achieves the above goals without adversely affecting either one?