| Filip Mazurczak Opinion Editor | February 26, 2010 |
Many studies show that compared with their peers in other industrialized nations, American teenagers are lacking in general knowledge. Our schools are in dire need of reform. Much evidence shows that introducing school vouchers would be a step in the right direction.
In the 2006 National Assessment of Educational Progress history exam, two-thirds of high school students couldn’t recognize the meaning of a photo of a door with a sign reading “Colored Entrance.” This shows how badly American schools need radical change.
The private high school I went to prepared me excellently for university-level coursework. Yet many of my friends who went to public schools struggled greatly when they began college. Excluding the less affluent from high quality education is contrary to the American value of equality.
Research consistently shows that private school students perform significantly better than do their peers in the public schools on standardized tests.
For the few past decades, the government has pumped billions of dollars into America’s public schools, yet their quality has barely improved. Why is that?
Most of the government money that subsidizes public schools goes into the hands of administrators, not into improving instruction. Like all bureaucrats, school administrators have their own financial interests.
Furthermore, American public school teachers are heavily unionized. Once they join a union, it is near impossible for them to lose their job, regardless of how incompetent and ignorant they may be.
Many apologists for public schools believe that private schools are selective and discriminate against students who have disabilities.
In reality, most American private schools are no less selective than government-run institutions and students who have disabilities face significantly less bullying and violence at private schools than at public ones.
Finally, school vouchers will be improve America’s public schools simply by means of Adam Smith’s invisible hand, which, according to nearly all economists, is the best way to improve anything.
Faced with competition from private schools that flourish due to vouchers, public institutions will have to stop being lazy or perish. They will painfully begin to understand that unless they improve their quality of instruction parents and students will avoid them.
Furthermore, freedom of choice and a respect for diversity are among the most cherished American values. Parents should have every right to decide what their children learn and in what kind of setting.
The United States has produced more Nobel Prize winners than any country in the world. According to U.S. News and World Report, 12 of the world’s top 20 universities are in the United States.
For the United States to maintain its status as the intellectual world capital it must not only have outstanding universities, but also exemplary elementary and secondary schools.
Someday, I will send my children off to school. Because I will be a loving father, I will want them to be challenged intellectually and grow up in a socially nurturing environment.
However, I don’t know what my salary will be then. And I sure wouldn’t want my children to obtain a mediocre education just because of a lack of resources.
| http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-goldberg12jun12,0,6103226.column |
 |
 |
 |
||||
 |
 |
 |
| "What’s your favorite part of the Winter Olympics?" |
|
 |
"Probably ice dancing." Mallory McGinnis Arts & Sciences junior |
 |
“Arguing with my roommates about the rules of curling.” Nick Quinn Arts & Sciences senior |
 |
“Ice skating and the biathlon.” Celyce Graves Arts & Sciences junior |
 |
“I only really enjoy watching curling, since I’ve been playing since I was five.” Beth Johnson Business junior |
 |
“The half-pipe, dude.” Jenna Klug Arts & Sciences junior |
 |
“Hockey! The United States beating Canada was great.” Tara Wander Arts & Sciences sophomore |
Comic By Jake Schutz
Do you have an opinion?
Contact the Opinion Editor at OpinionEditor@creightonian.com
Contact the Opinion Editor at OpinionEditor@creightonian.com
