Davila1

Anthony Davila
English 1010
Professor Mckeever
25 July 2014
Word ount 10!5
Argu"ent Essay
#chool hoice$An Educational usto" %it
&"agine if only one si'e (ants )ere sold in stores and govern"ent regulations
)ouldn*t allo) any other si'e to +e "ade availa+le to consu"ers, -his "ay sound cra'y
+ut it*s "uch like )hat*s ha((ens )ith education of our nations children, As A"ericans
)e en.oy a )ide range of (ersonal choice/ and thankfully it includes our a+ility to select
the (ants that fit us the +est, 0ut think for a "o"ent a+out traditional (u+lic education,
%or decades the (u+lic schools syste" has offered a one si'e fits all a((roach to
educating our 1ation*s kids, As )e a((roached the 21st century/ the (u+lic school
syste" +egan to sho) its age, More and "ore children +egan to fall +ehind in a ra(idly
changing environ"ent "arked +y the introduction of (ersonal co"(uters and later the
internet, #ensing a need for change/ "any (eo(le +egan to (ush for ne) educational
"odels that )ould kee( u( )ith the ti"es, -his "arked the +eginning of the school
choice "ove"ent, 0oth charter schools and school voucher (rogra"s are collectively
referred to as 2schools choice initiatives/ in that they allo) (arents freedo" to to choose
individuali'ed education o(tions for their children that are outside of the traditional 2one
si'e fits all3 (u+lic school syste"
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A school voucher (rogra" (rovides (arents )ith certificates that are used to (ay
for education o(tions at a school of their choice/ rather than the (u+lic school to )hich
they are assigned, harter schools on the other hand are (u+licly funded schools that
have +een freed fro" inefficient (u+lic school syste" rules and regulations in e4change
for accounta+ility to (roduce (ositive/ "easura+le results, -hese agreed to results are set
forth in each school*s charter, -he a+ility for (arents to choose an education (ath that is
+est for their children is an e4citing o((ortunity currently revolutioni'ing (u+lic
education,
onsidering the i"(ortance of (u+lic education/ it*s understanda+le that "any
(eo(le )ould +e hesitant to "ake changes to the syste", -hose o((osed to school choice
site concerns that (u+lic school )ould +e traded in for (rofit +ased education
cor(orations that care "ore for financial (rofit than the individual education of students,
5ther site concern for )hat a((ears to +e govern"ent s(onsorshi( of (rivate religious
schools through the funding (rovided +y various school voucher (rogra"s, -hose
against choice should +e co""ended for de"onstrating a co""itted concern for the
education of our 1ation*s children/ +ut the over)hel"ing evidence (roves that school
choice is the right direction for the future,
A characteristic of (rivately o(erated charter schools is the focus on success
through "easura+le achieve"ent and accounta+ility, &"agine again the one si'e fits all
(ants store/ ho) could they stay in +usiness if another store offered various si'es and
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styles7 #i"(le/ they couldn*t/ not )hen faced )ith co"(etition that (rovides a +etter
choice for consu"ers, -he traditional (u+lic school syste" of the (ast had no
co"(etition, -here )as no incentive to i"(rove the 8uality of education they (rovided
since there )as nothing to "easure it against, -he school choice "ove"ent for the first
ti"e introduced an alternative to (oorly (erfor"ing (u+lic schools, harter school "ake
a co""it"ent/ or charter/ to achieve a "easura+le level of educational (erfor"ance
)ithin a defined (eriod of ti"e, -his conce(t )orks and has (roduced results in (laces
like hicago/ )here charter schools sho) +etter (erfor"ance in A- test scores/ high
school graduation rates/ and greater nu"+ers of students continuing to college 9:and 6;,
With these results every school syste" can +enefit fro" having charter school availa+le,
5ne grou( that +enefits greatly fro" school choice is the (oor ur+an areas, %or
decades there has +een no school choice for these (oor fa"ilies, -he )ealthy have
al)ays (rovided very e4(ensive (rivate schools for their children/ and "iddleclass
fa"ilies have +een given the sa"e o((ortunities to send their children to safer and +etter
(erfor"ing schools )hich others have +een en.oying for "any years, &ts )onderful that
given a choice in schools )ill allo) a custo" fit for the student/ so this )ill hel( the child
to succeed,
#chool choice re(resents change and there )ill al)ays +e those that resist change
that stand to gain fro" a return to the old syste", 5ne of the "ost active o((onents to
school choice is the 1ational Education Association, :e(resenting (u+lic education
(rofessionals/ the 1EA is the largest la+or union in the <# and +oasts over 6,2 "illion
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"e"+ers 91EA;, -he 1EA +enefits fro" kee(ing status 8uo and e4ercising strong
(olitical (o)er, At stake are changes in .o+ (erfor"ance accounta+ility/ and the loss of
union .o+s a result of non$unioni'ed schools, -he (ositions the 1EA has taken on other
issues have often +een critici'ed as favoring the la+or interests of its "e"+ers rather than
)hat*s +est for the students, 5ne of the (rogra"s the 1EA has +een "ost vocal against
has +een school vouchers/ contending that voucher a"ounts to govern"ent funding of
religious +ased schools, 5n the contrary/ citi'ens are allo)ed to retain a (ortion of their
ta4 dollars that )ould have +een s(ent on local (u+lic school funding and a((ly it to a
school of their choosing, &t is the citi'en/ not the govern"ent that selects and contri+utes
to a (rivate school )eather it is religiously +ased or not, onsider fa"ilies that are
already sending children to (rivate schools/ they "ust (ay the (rivate school tuition and
in addition to the ta4 +urden for a (u+lic school they are not even attending, -his dou+le
+urden is unfair and a"ounts to a govern"ent fine for fa"ilies that (ursue (rivate
education )ithout the hel( of vouchers,
&t*s clear that the historical one si'e fits all a((roach to education is outdated, -he
ne) fast (ace of the digital age de"ands that )e act 8uickly and accurately in guiding
our (u+lic education (olicies, ling to an anti8uated syste" that (rovides (oor results is
a guarantee that traditional (u+lic education )ill continue to (roduce nothing other than
(oor results, &nstead/ a (ath of "easura+le results and accounta+ility should +e (ursued,
-he argu"ents of those against school choice "ust +e seen for )hat they are/ and that is
nothing "ore than (rotection of s(ecial interest such as +ig unions, 5ur 1ation "ust
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ensure that children )ill +e (rovided )ith a choice +ased education that is for)ard
thinking/ fair to all citi'ens/ custo"i'ed/ and a+le to "ove to the future )ith the",