Voucher Program

Paper Summary:

In this article the writer explains that within the education community, few issues stir up as much debate as the notion of providing government-funded aid, in the form of vouchers, to parents so that they may send their children to private schools. The writer further explains that vouchers equal to the per-pupil expenditure in the public schools would be given to parents for the purpose of sending their child to whichever school they wished their child to attend, public or private. Although the courts have upheld the constitutionality of vouchers, there is still a lack of consensus amongst the public over the issue. The writer concludes that studies centered on the effects on student achievement of vouchers are largely inconclusive, with some studies showing positive effects and others showing no effects at all. In addition, the writer notes that there is disagreement over the effects that voucher programs will have on the public schools, and support from the public would decline if public schools were affected negatively.

From the Paper:

"Although the constitutionality of voucher programs has been upheld by the United States Supreme Court, there is still strong opposition towards them."
"The maturation of voucher programs has led to many studies concerned with the effects such programs have on student achievement. Both the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program and the Cleveland Scholarship and Tutoring Program have undergone close scrutiny to determine the effects that vouchers have had on students' test scores, usually referred to as student achievement. Findings in such studies usually rear contradictory results, therefore providing inconclusive evidence as to whether or not voucher programs have a positive or negative effect on student achievement."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Adelsheimer, E. (1999). What we know about vouchers: The facts behind the rhetoric. San Francisco: Office of Educational Research and Improvement. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 435128)
• Ascher, C. (1996). Performance contracting: A forgotten experiment in school privatization. Phi Delta Kappan, 77(9), 615-621.
• Conrath, J. (2001). Changing the odds for young people: Next steps for alternative education. Phi Delta Kappan, 82(8), 585-587.
• Downs, D. (2007, February 2). School voucher debate continues. American Chronicle. Retrieved July 27, 2007, from http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/ viewArticle.asp?articleID=20110
• Good, T. L., & Braden, J. S. (2000). The great school debate: Choice, vouchers, and charters. Mahwah, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates.

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