If everyone had school vouchers...

[zetta]

I've been wishing we had school vouchers so we could stay in our house and yet send our kids to the excellent district nearby instead of the crushingly average one we're assigned to. If you had school vouchers available, what would you do?

[mommyof4]

In Iowa, we have open enrollment to all of the public schools, so you can send you kids to any public school in whichever district you wish. We live in a small district adjacent to a larger district, and several families open enroll their children into our smaller, more rural district (we only have one school in the district, preschool through 12th grade all in one building).

If I could afford it, I'd send my kids to the Catholic schools. I just can't afford the tuition.

[MonkeyMama]

Today, I'd stick with the school we have.

Our school district is completely inept, which is a whole other story.

The district denied building a school in a new neighborhood with 1000 families, in the midst of clearly shady land deals (they are currently under fire for buying "unusable" land at the peak for something like 10 times fair market value. ANyone with half a brain knew this deal made no sense, a few years ago, SO, we have a wonderful charter school started up by local parents, in protest to the Board and it's clearly shady dealings. Primarily due to lack of having a school nearby - so now we have one!).

We had a clear "in" because we were involved with the formation. The problem is the waiting list is 100s long. So, I am not really sure how a voucher system really works in that regard. In our school district we just have mile long waiting lists for very few schools (We have a few charters).

It is my understanding that our school will not be subject to the same budget cuts, etc. as the rest of the district. i.e. they are raising all class sizes from 20-30 students next year, and laying off a ton of teachers. I cringe at the sudden, extreme increase, and could see being in line for vouchers as well. I understand we can keep our small class sizes at our charter- I am not sure why or how - I think we just have more control over what we can cut - and also rely more on non-public money, etc. (Volunteers keep the school running - for sure).

I would assume anyone who lives in a major metro area would have a lot of public options. Zetta, I would really ask around and talk to people. We have Charters throughout the city, and though many are hard to get in, if you wait until 1st grade, you can get into many schools (people are reluctant to try after the first grade offered - we have quite a few openings in 1-5 though K has a HUGE waitlist). It doesn't even have to be in the same district. I have a lower-class friend who knows where all the good schools are and has got her children into great schools (she is willing to drive).

[disneysteve]

We live one of the best school districts in the state so I'd keep her in public school where she is.

[PrincessPerky]

I would continue to homeschool, and while money to provide my kids with some of the options public schooled kids get as part of the package seems nice, I do not need any more restrictions on how I educate my children, so I prolly wouldn't take money even if offered.

[simpleyme]

my kids are in the most wanted district ,homes around here fly off the market because people want their kids in this school
which i think is sad since it is a crappy school ,the neighboring school is 73% spanish speaking and 13 percent russian and parents of english speaking children want them in schools that teach in english

my Dh coworker was mad that his children are not taught in english as he wants them to learn it and he is hispanic, but our neighbor across the road wants their hispanic kids taught in spanish so they take them by car to woodburn schools

I am just glad that in 5 years my youngest will graduate and I am done with dealing with our schools ;-) woohooo

[disneysteve]

I am just glad that in 5 years my youngest will graduate and I am done with dealing with our schools ;-) woohooo

5 more years for us, too.

[GREENBACK]

I'll argue til the day I die that where you go to school isn't nearly as critical as your willingness to learn. I'm a product of an urban public school system that had a pretty bad reputation. The teachers were good for those who wished to learn. I also learned how to deal with people of all types and how to deal with adversity. Private or "better" schools sometimes eliminate the need for people to handle difficult life situations which at some point most of us have to deal with. It's a myth that teachers in poor school districts don't care. It's the willingness of the student and the support of the parent(s) that makes the difference.

[Seeker]

I'll argue til the day I die that where you go to school isn't nearly as critical as your willingness to learn. I'm a product of an urban public school system that had a pretty bad reputation. The teachers were good for those who wished to learn. I also learned how to deal with people of all types and how to deal with adversity. Private or "better" schools sometimes eliminate the need for people to handle difficult life situations which at some point most of us have to deal with. It's a myth that teachers in poor school districts don't care. It's the willingness of the student and the support of the parent(s) that makes the difference.

While I somewhat agree with your views, I also do not.

If the other students do not wish to learn, it does indeed make your efforts to do just that, rather reduced. There is usually one or more student in every classroom, that makes things a challenge; more than one compounds that challenge for all.

I do not entirely blame teachers for the problems in the classroom, it's a combination of teacher and student and probably also the organization & management and their priorities as well.

Some students are well able to handle the difficult situations, some are not. And no teacher is there 100% of the time ; outside the classroom is where most of the problems occur.

Unfortunatly, schools are formed of groups of people. A single person, teacher or student, can make a difference if others are of a similar mind. But if others are not of similar mind, the whole ends up suffering.

[GREENBACK]

While I somewhat agree with your views, I also do not.

If the other students do not wish to learn, it does indeed make your efforts to do just that, rather reduced. There is usually one or more student in every classroom, that makes things a challenge; more than one compounds that challenge for all.

I do not entirely blame teachers for the problems in the classroom, it's a combination of teacher and student and probably also the organization & management and their priorities as well.

Some students are well able to handle the difficult situations, some are not. And no teacher is there 100% of the time ; outside the classroom is where most of the problems occur.

Unfortunatly, schools are formed of groups of people. A single person, teacher or student, can make a difference if others are of a similar mind. But if others are not of similar mind, the whole ends up suffering.

There is plenty of truth in what you're saying but I know from personal experience that the opportunity to get an education is there. I think it's a mistake to think public education is a bad thing. I'd like to find all my high school teachers and give them a big hug. There are students everywhere that make learning difficult for others regardless of the school.

[disneysteve]

I'll argue til the day I die that where you go to school isn't nearly as critical as your willingness to learn. I'm a product of an urban public school system that had a pretty bad reputation. The teachers were good for those who wished to learn. I also learned how to deal with people of all types and how to deal with adversity. Private or "better" schools sometimes eliminate the need for people to handle difficult life situations which at some point most of us have to deal with. It's a myth that teachers in poor school districts don't care. It's the willingness of the student and the support of the parent(s) that makes the difference.

I agree about it being a myth that teachers in poor districts don't care. Most or all of them care very deeply, which is why they took jobs where they did. It isn't the teachers that are the problem.

The problem is the students, the administration, the lack of funding, etc. A wonderful teacher has her hands tied if the district can't afford textbooks or supplies, the class is terribly overcrowded, special needs kids are mainstreamed in with the regular kids, behavior problem kids aren't removed from the classroom, language barriers exist within the class and parents have zero involvement in their kids' lives.

[Seeker]

There is plenty of truth in what you're saying but I know from personal experience that the opportunity to get an education is there. I think it's a mistake to think public education is a bad thing. I'd like to find all my high school teachers and give them a big hug. There are students everywhere that make learning difficult for others regardless of the school.

Yes, I didn't entirely disagree. I too am a product of public education. But a lot has changed in 30+ years too.

Most conflicts were outside of the classroom... breaks between classes, getting to the next class, lunch, before classes, and after classes. In primary school classes, teachers sometimes got wind of the conflicts during recess or wherever and corrected them in classroom. My teachers were not "bad" -- but there were drugs and smoking of illegal substances in the restrooms even back then.

In high school, my normal situation was to seek help in classroom subjects from the teachers after school in order to glean more understanding from a topic that may have been interrrupted in the classroom itself, or just may not have been covered completely due to a lack of time or other constraints.

I can remember fire drills that interrupted not only one class, but the entire attitude of the whole day. I can remember accidents and being kept in a classroom until the situation was resolved and another day's learning lost with rumors circulating the entire rest of the day.

Nowdays, the news, phones and other means of cummunicateion from the outside world, intrudes into classrooms.

I don't think "all" private schools have it much more "better" than public. Money does not always beget "better" education. But I do agree that (for those that do have children) parents should be able to send their children to the schools they perceive as best for their child.

This "districts" that are perceived as "barely functional" -- should not be allowed to exist. I'm not sure how they could be perceived to provide any function to a growing mind... or a potential growing mind. That's my problem with this topic.

A concerned parent cannot correct a bad situation forming, because he or she is limited to one single school that happens to be in the same residential district? A concerned parent may want to make a better choice a realistic option for his or her children, but cannot. Why not?

The choice of public versus private is often a choice of rich versus poor. How many children the likes of Albert Einstein, have we lost due to the parents of these highly intelligent children not having a choice of where to send their children? How many people "conform" to the rules, regulations and environment of their peers? That's really what we're talking about. The ability to blend in and not make waves that make you a target. That's what we learn to do in school.

[GREENBACK]

It's hard to say what the best choice is if you have a choice. I don't think school is purely about academics. I think the varied social aspects play a role as well. At some point in life you have to interact with people of different faiths, different ethnic backgrounds and different cultures. I know people have their opinions on public vs. private vs. home schooling. I do wonder which prepares a young mind to best deal with life in general. It's not all about A's and B's unless you're gonna live in a bubble.

[zakity]

I would continue to homeschool. I don't feel that schools are set up to teach individuals. They are there to teach kids to be automotons who all think and learn the same way. Then, there are the kids that learn differently and they are made to feel stupid because they don't learn the school's way of learning.

I have three boys who would all need that extra 5 minutes of the teacher's time. None of them would get it in a classroom. Some of them learn by hands-on stuff, reading a chapter and answering questions for them would be a nightmare. They wouldn't learn. Homeschooling allows them to do hands-on stuff. If they read something, I can ask the questions in a sly way and make sure they learned the info.

[Seeker]

Actually Greenback, school is nothing more than a place keeper for children. A place where they can learn, and interact and grow, for better or for worse. Yes, there's considerably more to life than academics.

The point of the poll posted, is if you as a parent were given vouchers, what choice would you make?

If a parent truely had a choice, which parent would not research the stats from neighboring schools and make the "better" choice for their child based on that research?

The poll is rhetorical in the sense that each and every school is uniquely different. The poll responses would therefore vary, according to the local characteristics of those schools.

This was already alluded to in DS's post. He sends his daughter to a public school in NJ; would he do the same if he lived in the OPs residence facing the their schools? Would he do the same yet again, if he had vouchers and could now legally choose the "better" school?

----

Science has determined that the human brain continues to grow (to the "normal" or average-sized human brain) and adapt until the approximate age of 25 years old. The last portion of our brains to grow is the decision making part, the ramifications part, the goal-making and follow through part, that we choose for ourselves.

We "learn" each and every day of our lives, in school and outside of school. Every breathing moment, we take in infomation and process it somewhere and learn something.

But ultimately, the school we attend as a youngster, is the beginning of socialization learning, and logical learning.

When school ends, that's the approximate age of when our brains are able to handle the future. Life changes completely... and we are more in control of who we believe, what we learn, what we do, where we go, etc.

But until the time when we are capable of making our own decisions, our parents IMO, should have the option to send us to the school they believe would make the best environment for our learning.

IMO, no parent's choice should be limited by location nor cost.