Should we do away with public schools and make the parents pay for what school they want their child attend?

Answer 1

In the United States, every child has the right to a FREE education. This principle is set out in the US Constitution.

Making the poor pay for their childrens' schooling would end up with 75% or more of the US population being functionally illiterate.

Even now, 21% of US adults over the age of 15 are functionally illiterate, believe it or not. Part of this is due to the trend towards homeschooling, where the parents are not equipped to teach their children the basics, and the lowering of standards in public schools. Homeschooling should be banned unless the children are being professionally tutored, but not before the standards of public schools are brought back to those of, say, 1967 or before.

Answer 2

If given the choice I would send my kids to private school. But for the general public it's probably not a good idea to privatize the school system. Many families wouldn't be able to afford sending their kids to private school, even with tax breaks. And NO CHILD should be denied an education or the chance to improve their lives because their parents couldn't afford it. The poor would stay poor and the rich would stay rich.

Answer 3

It should be a given that the wealthy can purchase whatever they want, including quality education.

That said, the rest of us, from those in abject poverty to the upper-middle class, must draw the best we can from the existing public education system.

Doing away with public schools would only increase poverty and despair and division in this country, and we have enough of all three as it is.

There are two sure ways to help make your public school better--I call it V2--volunteer, and vote.

Answer 4

Nothing wrong with public schools.... until they took the paddle away from the principal. We didn't have ADD back then because a mahogany injection on the @$$ took care of it. Some kids needed a booster shot once in a while. But all in all you paid attention or your parents were told. You did not even want that to happen!

Answer 5

No, I think that will lead to too much waste. Imagine commercials and ads saying "Come to our school, it's the best!" while simultaneously trying to pay for books and computers and quality teachers.

There was an article where I live in the middle of a housing boom that said it was too hard for teachers to afford to live in the communities they worked in, and they were having to commute or go to different schools.

I think the effort spent on the "voucher" program would be better spent giving significant pay-raises and standardization. Unfortunately when it comes to work, the amount you are paid and quality of life is measured in money. I would gladly pay more taxes for my son's school, since I already pay so much in child care, but I would prefer it were government controlled to provide some accountability.

Why spare the expense for something so important?

Answer 6

No. That is why there are private schools now. If you want your child to go to one of them, then that is your choice. You will get tax breaks for the tuition you pay because some of your taxes go for the public schools.

Answer 7

First of all the UN charter on human rights guarantees a public education to children for at least 6th grade.

Second of all. Go teach. Then you'll understand the problems. Maybe you can come up with a real solution.

However, when I hear someone like you say that as a public school teacher I say do it. Deal with the consequences of a decreased quality of life that lack of access to education would ensure.

Answer 8

No. If we left it up to parents to pay tuition, they would not send their children to school. That is the reason for our mandatory public school system.
Children must go to school and lack of tuition money cannot be used as an excuse.

Answer 9

Yes ; at least they wouldn't be learning dissent and anarchy .
More parents I know are either pulling their kids out of public school , to home school ; or put in private schools . Personally , I'm more in favor of private schools vs. home schools . What I find interesting - is the fact that it's the liberals I know - who took their kids out of public school - to enroll in private school - and half are radicals themselves , involved in public education . I wish somebody could explain that to me . We're not talking inner-city slums ..but kids removed from suburban public schools ..

Answer 10

Parents already pay for their children to go to school. It's called taxes.