Adelsheimer Erica: What we know about vouchers: The Facts behind the Rhetoric 1999

Adelsheimer Erica: What we know about Vouchers: The Facts behind the rhetoric

One of the most controversial elements of the school choice movement is the use of school vouchers. Publicly funded voucher programs provide state education money for families to spend on tuition at private schools or religious private schools. This expenditure of public funds and even the proposal of a voucher program give occasion to a passionate debate between parents, policymakers and educators. The report deals with questions such as: Should vouchers have income stipulations? Should vouchers be available only for students whose schools are judged as “failing”? And will vouchers help or hurt the public school system (...)? (p.1) The article continues by showing recent research on this matter, which focuses especially on voucher programs in Milwaukee and Cleveland. Although certain ‘similarities were found in family income, parental satisfaction, parental education, parental martial status and family size, race and ethnicity, and attrition [etc.]’ (p.2) the question, whether voucher programs will provide a better education for students, still remains unanswered. Furthermore, Adelsheimer goes on by stating the most common arguments for and against school vouchers. She examines existing research into whether voucher programs improve or erode the quality of education and looks at alternative enrolment options. By doing so, she includes the views of two Cleveland parents who chose different options for their children. Adelsheimer lists program characteristics and the legal status of publicly financed voucher programs in Florida, Maine, Ohio, Puerto Rico, Vermont and Wisconsin (Milwaukee) in an uttermost detailed schedule. She compares the nation’s six publicly funded programs and their course in court. Finally, the report offers recommendations to policymakers, educators, and parents involved in the continuing debate over school vouchers.

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