School choice and vouchers are controversial educational topics in America. Parents believe they should have the choice as to where their children go to school, as indicated by Gallup Poll results in 2015 (Kappan, Gallup Poll Results, 2015). Although most parents send their children to the neighborhood school, they do support the rights of others to choose another location.
The debates remain, without much data to prove that making a choice beyond the neighborhood school, either to a charter or private institution, creates more success or greater achievement for the student. There is simply not sufficient data about student achievement to determine what might have been done in comparison if had the child remained in the assigned neighborhood
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Pro-choice supporters believe that choice is vital to our market economy (Iacono, 2015). Corey Iacono, in his article 3 Reasons to Support School Choice, states his belief that school choice not only saves taxpayers money but results in increased academic outcomes, diminishes racial segregation while aiding the underprivileged, and increases the quality of the public school (Iacono, 2015). However, while claiming there is evidence of better success for students who go to other schools and that it is financially good for the public system, he does not actually document or reference those studies.
Some opponents of school choice are accused of fearing competition. By having the option of choice, schools are thrown into a competitive environment (Iacono, 2015). They also fear it will lead to financial challenges for the public schools, which will then harm their ability to perform at a high level. Iacono, who is a minor in economics and is a Thorpe Fellow, claims there is empirical evidence that confirms “competition leads to superior results” (Iacono,
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Perhaps the most discussed, and the one that creates the strongest opinion, is school vouchers. It is because of the perceived view that students going to private schools are getting the opportunity to continue to utilize public funding that causes a lot of disagreement. There is a belief that funding going to private school attendees reduces the amount of monies available for the neighborhood public