School vouchers have been a controversial debate among community members and educators for more than a decade – and there are no signs of the debate simmering.
Vouchers are essentially a form of “tax scholarship” for public school students, wherein the educational tax (which typically is given directly to public schools) can be used to pay for alternative forms of education. With the voucher approach, taxes allow parents to send their children to a school of their choice; this money can even be used for private schools.
While many parents and educators believe that vouchers give students the freedom to seek out better educational opportunities, other individuals and experts assert that vouchers simply deprive struggling schools of receiving much-needed funding for improvement. With this great debate, one must question: are vouchers destroying or saving our public schools?
This video from NPR explains how vouchers work.
How Do Vouchers Work?
As public schools rely upon tax dollars for funding, each student who attends a public school is “worth” a certain amount of tax dollars. Each public school district or county is provided with a different “tax worth” for their students, which is determined in elections by community members.
For example, “District A” schools may receive $5,000 per student (annually), while “District B” may only be provided with $4,000 per student (annually). If “District A” is provided with more money and funding for each