I confess: I am the daughter of a public school educator, and I wholeheartedly disagree with Chris Coval’s letter (“Anti-Voucher Argument Naive” April 9) for one very simple reason: I grew up watching my mother teach and work in the administration of a public school district.
Coval states that while our educational system is “an unfair reality,” it “has nothing to do with a lack of funds for the state-run monopoly.” Spending has grown for public schools for special programs, such as enrichment, technology enhancement for classrooms and special programs for reading, writing, math and bilingual children. These are all things that are in place to IMPROVE public education. I would also like to point out that the government is proposing the smallest increase in educational funding in the past six years, so I hardly believe that any school is not suffering from a lack of funds.
There are several problems with a voucher system. Hypothetically, if a student were to receive a $4,000 voucher (the amount proposed for a California voucher proposition in the last election), and a private school were to demand a $10,000 tuition, where is a low-income family to find the extra $6,000 to pay for tuition? Suddenly, a voucher does not seem quite so large.
While this may sound trite, it should be obvious that private does not mean better. Private and parochial (or charter) schools DO NOT have any curriculum standards nor do they have any accountability as to what they do teach. How are we to say that private is always better if there is no standard curriculum by which children learn?
While Coval seems rather gung ho to point out how many parents are in favor of a voucher system, did he bother to look up the percentage of teachers, administrators and teaching associations that oppose them? From personal experience, I can honestly say that I have yet to meet a teacher who agrees that vouchers improve education.
While the voucher system seems attractive and a solution to the educational needs of low-income families, it is nothing but a Band-Aid to current problems. To remove money from public education is flat out wrong. It should remain in public education for the reason that it has always been there: to improve the lives and education of ALL students without demanding a bill at the end of the school day.
Amanda Sidwell
COM ’02
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