What Are The Pros And Cons Of School Vouchers

A school voucher is a voucher that is given from the government that covers entirely or most of the costs for a student to attend a private school of their choice. With a voucher, the money moves from public schools to private schools. Parents get their child’s portion of the per pupil spending and use that money to then fund their child’s attendance of a private school of their choosing. I feel like this is an important topic to be discussed because most of these voucher programs use money that comes from taxpayers. Most people would like their money going to something that is making a difference.
There are both pros and cons of school vouchers. One pro would be that ability for a parent to choose where the child is attending school. I
They may not have the money to send their child to a better private school. This ties in to how a family technically has a choice to where their child goes. Many public schools are lined up in certain school districts, where certain neighborhoods are assigned to certain schools. Higher income families are most likely to be found in suburban areas, where the quality of public school is going to be higher than one found in a more rural, lower-income area, or even in inner city schools. The higher income families also have an advantage because if they don’t believe the quality of education is high enough at their child’s current public school, it is easier for them to come up with the money to fund their child’s transition to a private school. If we wanted to “make everyone equal” the introduction of a school voucher program could allow the lower-income families the privilege to attend the private schools for a better education. Ladd believes that parents might use the socioeconomic status of another child’s parents in schools as a proxy for school quality. I believe this to be somewhat true. For the most part, if a child’s parents have a better socioeconomic status, they are more likely to be in a better school, public or private. A parent is going to want their children to be around better mannered/behaved children. People are a product of their surroundings, especially at a young age. So, a parent is most likely going to try to find a place where the parents are “better,” because their child will most likely reflect them. This does create a problem though. If schools are judged based from socioeconomic status of those who attend, those who are in the lower-income levels will be in the lower ranked schools. One may be apart of a lower income family but be an above average student. The education that they are receiving isn’t testing them enough, basically holding them back