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What
is School Choice . . ?
Education is one thing.
Schools are another. Education is the end. Schools are the means. Our
tax funds
for education are meant to achieve the end (purpose) of
children
becoming informed and responsible adults. Clearly that public purpose
can be
achieved by children through public schools, private schools, or
without
attending a school - by learning at home or online.
With school choice, each
family would choose the schools for their children - whether public,
private,
home or virtual - and the child's share of the tax funds would be
applied to
the cost of instruction.
What matters is that each
child be taught in the
setting that will best lead to that child learning what is important.
What does
not matter is whether the teachers are government employees, private
employees,
or otherwise. We do not insist that our funds for public health go only
to
public health clinics. We should not insist that our funds for public
education
go only to public schools.
With school choice:
- Instead
of
entrusting our tax dollars to the institutions
providing the education, we would entrust them to the individuals seeking it. The funds
are meant for the education of children, not the operation of schools.
- Instead
of allocating huge sums to school boards for spending on thousands of
children, we would allocate small sums to thousands of parents for
spending on their own few children.
- Instead
of government officials choosing the schools for unknown children based
on
their
address, families would choose the schools for their own children based
on their unique knowledge and love for them.
Such tax subsidies for services are called vouchers and they are as common as
palm trees in Florida. Floridians already receive vouchers for
healthcare, housing, food, shelter, and for all levels of education
except K-12. |
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