Category | Op Ed

School choice in Georgia: Answering the critics

Published on November 10, 2009 by Justin Hayes

Since the Charter School Bill of 1993, there have been other attempts at to  school choice in Georgia. Unfortunately, many of the bills didn’t pass. For example, Senate Bill 458 would have given students at schools that have lost their accreditation scholarships the ability to attend another local institution. Unfortunately, it was withdrawn from the Georgia State House on April 4, 2008. Other bills like 458 have been proposed, but none had enough votes to pass Georgia’s legislature.

In 2008, the state was able to take another step in the right direction for school choice. On May 14, 2008, Governor Sonny Perdue signed HB 1133, which allowed private citizens and corporations to “get income tax credits for donating money to non-profit scholarship organizations.”  Parents can then turn to these organizations for scholarships to help send their children to private schools or other close public schools.

This, of course, is only a small part of bringing real school choice to Georgia. Real school choice would mean the opportunity of every parent and student, rich or poor, to send his or her child to the institution of his or her choice, whether public or private. Voucher plans that would make this opportunity a reality, have been successful in other countries.

Belgium ranks relatively high when it comes to education, especially higher than the US. In Belgium, instead of the government giving money directly to their schools, the money follows the student. According to Van Raemdonck, a former citizen of Belgium,  “[a] system where the funding follows the student and where it is possible to attend any school of choice (regardless of family income) forces public and private schools to compete for students among themselves and with each other.”

Some say that the current system in the US is fair because it provides free education to all. However, in most school districts, parental choice is limited to none. The voucher system eliminates this problem and benefits families of both rich and poor backgrounds.

Some argue that a voucher system would limit the diversity found in public schools and leave the new system separated by class. Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman argues that in the current system, “stratification of residential areas effectively restricts the intermingling of children from decidedly different backgrounds.” In other words, our current system already seperates by class. Only the wealthy can afford to send their kids to private schools, limiting the amount of “intermingling.” In a voucher system, parents can choose schools based on quality and are not tied to a specific location, nor is price a factor.

One of the most prominent arguments against a voucher system contends that it violates the First Amendment of the US Constitution because the government can potentially fund a religious institution. However, Raemdonck says that, in Belgium, “[t]o deal with church and state issues, tax monies are allocated without regard to any religious affiliation of a recipient school.” To put it simply, the parents choose the school and the government basically provides the funds, without any respect to a specific religion.  Therefore, the government does not support any religion.

A final concern deals with questionable curriculum and performance of private schools. Some argue that some private schools might teach taboo material and/or have no oversight to make sure students are being “properly” educated. However, this means that parents will have to pay more attention to their child’s schooling.

If a school is unaccountable or inefficient then a parent can immediately pull their child out and send him or her to another institution. If enough parents start pulling their children out, the school must either change its ways or bring in new management. Both private and public schools would have a strong incentive to act responsibly.

A voucher system in Georgia would greatly improve education for everyone. It is founded on competition, accountability and, most importantly, freedom of choice for parents and students. It would also encourage more local involvement in education, as seen in the charter systems.

We have state elections coming up in 2010. We should look for candidates who believe in the freedom to choose the best education for our children.