The Case Against School Vouchers

The National Education Association (NEA) makes a rigorous case against school vouchers on their web site: NEA: National Education Association: School Vouchers. For years the right wing and especially the religious right have been pursuing vouchers as the only way to preserve quality education in America. The real agenda is not to improve education, rather, it is to dismantle public education as the foundation of our democractic republic replacing it with an untested parochial approach that fails to insure predictable outcomes for American school children.

Now I am not one to argue that schooling does not need reform. I am a strong proponent of school change. The question is not if we should reform schools, rather, the question is what should reform look like? Public education, especially in large urban districts, has become a scapegoat for all of the ills of society. No Child Left Behind, with its mindless testing programs and uninspired requirements for academic success, leaves much room for critique. The simple truth is that if reform is to be effective it must have several components:

• It must revolve around Standards Based Instruction (SBI)
• It must develop effective Standards Based Assessment tools
• It must create classrooms that are engaging, rigorous and authentic
• It must account for all students in the classroom including the exceptional learner
• It must remain publicly funded with access to all

Without these attributes American education is likely to Balkanize schooling and ultimately the nation itself. For the sake of my own children and grandchildren I hope that we all come to our senses soon.