Class
Article
College
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Department
English Department
Faculty Mentor
Cree Taylor
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Abstract
Voucher systems have been enacted in a number of states, giving government grants to students in order to attend private school institutions where they may not have had the financial ability to before. Voucher systems have claimed to ensure the prosperity of students as they aim to provide religious freedom, special needs education, and opportunities for academic excellence. This promise has held popularity among its supporters, but looking at decade old systems now reveal that this simply isn’t true and has stirred controversy around vouchers. While school vouchers promised higher test scores, they have failed to provide such results when looking at the scores of those in the program. Likewise, vouchers have proven to hurt public schools by taking money from an already underfunded system, and marginalized communities have been disproportionately negatively affected by school voucher programs. Furthermore, private schools are not held to the same standards and protections as the public education system. Overall, while vouchers have promised to provide opportunities for academic excellence and protect religious freedom, they have fallen short and instead prove that vouchers take money from an already underfunded public school system, take away certain protections from students, and overall fail to provide higher test results.
Location
Logan, UT
Start Date
4-8-2022 12:00 AM
Included in
The Failed Promise of Private School Voucher Systems: How We Can Learn From Previous Systems in Future Endeavors
Logan, UT
Voucher systems have been enacted in a number of states, giving government grants to students in order to attend private school institutions where they may not have had the financial ability to before. Voucher systems have claimed to ensure the prosperity of students as they aim to provide religious freedom, special needs education, and opportunities for academic excellence. This promise has held popularity among its supporters, but looking at decade old systems now reveal that this simply isn’t true and has stirred controversy around vouchers. While school vouchers promised higher test scores, they have failed to provide such results when looking at the scores of those in the program. Likewise, vouchers have proven to hurt public schools by taking money from an already underfunded system, and marginalized communities have been disproportionately negatively affected by school voucher programs. Furthermore, private schools are not held to the same standards and protections as the public education system. Overall, while vouchers have promised to provide opportunities for academic excellence and protect religious freedom, they have fallen short and instead prove that vouchers take money from an already underfunded public school system, take away certain protections from students, and overall fail to provide higher test results.