School Vouchers

What exactly is the great debate behind a school voucher offer for the use of private education and the positive offerings for the students that are able to take advantage? Schools are designated by the district that one lives in. Everyone knows that there are various areas such as high income and low income areas that make up the population of a city. Because of the school designation by district, many in lower income communities feel that children are short changed on education due to the belief the lower income area schools are not of the same caliber as the other area schools. Add in the equation of private schools and there is another distinct difference perceived in regard to public education versus the private education establishment.
Peterson’s article, A Choice Between Public and Private Schools: What Next for School Vouchers, clearly outlines a pro-voucher system and feels the program would be a strong catalyst for breaking the viscous cycle of poverty, criminal element, and dependence in urban and minority areas. The topic of religion has been a strong catalyst for opposition of inducting such a program. The Supreme Court, in 2002, declared voucher programs to be constitutional (Peterson, 5). Peterson debunks the idea of societal division due to the religious aspect or vouchers for private schools and feels that is more of a myth. There is a choice between religious and secular schools and therefore the choice of the two showed no discrimination in favor of or against a religion because the parents have a choice as to whether they chose to send their child to a particular school. His article was published in 2003 and at that time four states are represented in the article as having established voucher
Many were more focused on pushing a political agenda or ranting regarding the religious aspect of allowing vouchers to be used at a religious school. Since there are only a handful of states participating in a voucher program, I feel the data does not cover the full scope of what benefit the vouchers may or may not have. Every region in my opinion is different. I feel you have to look at the nation as a whole, taking all demographics in to account, to determine potential success of a program. Each municipal area has to have industry to have a strong tax base. Rural areas do not have such and rely on the taxpayers to make up the funding. Larger cities such as Southaven and Olive Branch, for example, have a better school system due to the funding put in by Desoto County and those cities. This is in part based on taxes collected from the industry and commercial taxes. Tate County, much more rural, does not have industry to support additional funds for the schools. They do not have the nice new buildings, nor do they have the advanced curriculum or programs that Desoto has. Some of their schools have K-12 or 7-12 where other larger city areas have middle schools to accommodate grades 6-8. In the instance of Memphis prior to the merge, they have a huge industrial base and received more money than Shelby County, yet Memphis City Schools could not even keep their facilities operational. With a