|
|
|
|
Making the “Unpopular” Pay Twice Jake Copyright© 2005 All Rights Reserved
In the contemporary United States, pre-college education continues to be a hot topic with many. There are several different areas that people choose to argue over with education, but the one that strongly interests me is the “voucher system”. Many states and communities use it in different ways. The goal of this system should be to empower concerned parents to direct the education of their children and not have to pay twice if their method includes private school or home school. Parents who choose other options for their children may pay twice if there is not a government voucher system available in their area. A voucher system would redirect the government money set aside by taxes to pay for their children’s government required education. Without a voucher, parents don’t get their tax dollars for their children’s home schooling costs or private school expenses. They pay twice. First they pay their taxes into the public school system and then a second time into the system they’ve chosen for their children. Parents should have control over their own children’s education. Reasons for choosing to use alternative schooling rather than the public school system vary among parents. If a parent feels that the public school system in their area can’t or won’t give their child what he or she needs, there are no constitutional grounds that stop them from opting out of the public school system as indicated in amendments nine and ten of the U.S. Constitution. The problem is that in the areas that don’t offer vouchers, the government inadvertently discourages and makes other educational options more expensive. This kind of socialistic action surely is not constitutional in any way. This begs the question, why don’t more states and communities use the voucher system? One could explore this question for years—and many do. Perhaps the most common answer is that it is a matter of popular opinion. In communities where most are not aware of other educational options, or are opposed to parents having other options besides the public school system, popular opinion keeps parents who use these alternatives paying twice by not forming a voucher system. Another big problem is that far too many don’t care, displayed by their lack of action on educational issues. Many don’t have kids and the only reason they do take action is to avoid paying taxes for the education of others (Partridge, 2005). They fail to see how they benefit from other people’s education. Far too many never see how the computers they use, the cars they drive, the civic programs they enjoy, and the overall ease and goodness in their life comes through other’s education. In this country far too many don’t know the sorrows that so many other nations know because of inefficient education among their citizens. Whether or not one is a parent, education should be taken more seriously. Voucher systems should be implemented in all communities in the United States in order to make more possible the parent’s constitutional right to direct their own children’s education. If we as a nation continue to give negative messages to parents, through discouraging optional educational programs, future parents will continue to feel that they really don’t need to take personal responsibility for their own children’s education. As a people if we merely let the public schools deal with our children’s education, this nation will see higher crime, less caring families, and continued destruction of the moral fiber that has made this nation strong and great (Howard County Maryland Government, 2002).
References “Not My Kid” Program. (2002). Howard County Maryland Government Office of the State’s Attorney. Retrieved September 7, 2005: http://www.co.ho.md.us/StatesAttorney/SAMain/CommOutreach/CommOutrch_Main.htm Partridge, Ernest. (2005, April 5). Why Should I Pay For Someone Else’s Education? Democratic Underground. Retrieved September 7, 2005: http://www.democraticunderground.com/crisis/05/005_ep.html |
Copyright © 2008 American Education Reform
|
