Thursday, March 27, 2014

School Vouchers

Here is a brief and recent video from Reason TV on a family's story related to the D.C. voucher program. At one point in the video a family member says, "[Education] should not be political". Unfortunately it has been made a political issue. Watch documentaries The Lottery or Waiting for Superman (and follow one of the protagonists from The Lottery Eva Moskowitz in her attempt to save the Harlem Children's Success Academy from Mayor De Blasio) . These documentaries make compelling cases for school choice. When people have the capability to choose their school they're capable of "voting with their feet" which rewards good schools and brings discipline to bad schools. Of course there are arguments against vouchers and school choice (we might explore some of those in a future post) and not all charter schools or private schools are equally good. But, even if someone chooses a bad school there is still the chance to switch, that choice is not available for a child attending a bad public school.