vouchers

[Gustaf]

Whose kids are they?

As a parent of two young children (not yet in school) and a taxpayer, should I not have a greater role in what my child is taught.  

Vouchers could potentially instigate a renaissance in American education.

Think of the opportunities and specialization that could be offered.

Here are a few off the top of my head

-Schools that immerse the student in a second language

-Schools specialize in engineering, science, or art.

-Schools that are set up help special needs kids. Special needs kids could be given larger vouchers

-Schools that affirm the values the parents want their children taught.

America spends more educating her students than any other county.  What are we getting for it?  
*competition inspires excellence*

When competition came to the long-distance telecommunications the consumer greatly benifited.  The same would be true for schools.

OK, I'm for vouchers, we have them in Sweden, they wotk great, and I go to a voucher school myself, and think it's very good.

A LOT of posts has been made, so I won't bother with more right now. If anyone wants to ask anything, I will answer though.

[Gustaf]

Gustaf,

How are standard for the various schools set to determine which institutions are worthy of vouchers.

Also, does the Swedish government allow citizens to chose religious schools?

There is an institution, which name I could not translate to English, b/c I'm unfamiliar with bureaucratic terms, that is responsible for schools. If you want to start a school, you apply to them. If you get a green light you start up. Regular surveys are conducted, and if scools are found to be breaking the rules for publicly financed schools they get issued a warning, and if they don't comply their funds are withdrawn.

Religious schools are allowed, though they are very controversial. They have to educate the pupils on the evolution and on all world religions, etc. There is a constant debate, especially on Moslem and fundamentalist Evangelical schools. But it's working pretty well. Does that answer your question, or do you want more specifics?

[Gustaf]

Thanks for the answer my Sweedish friend,

No problemo, ask anything you want, this is one of the few issues where my country is ahead with an interesting right-winged idea, so I feel happy explaining it
!

What type of things would keep a school from being certified, besides the obvious.

I am not sure what you mean by obvious...

They have to offer an education comparable to that of public shools, giving the pupils access to everything they should have, they have to be in compliance with ground rules concerning school policies, not smacking  them, teaching the democratic ideals upheld by society, and so on. There isn't a lot of controversial stuff, there is a fair amount of flexibility, so schools can look pretty different. The basic principle is that pupils going to voucher school should have the same chances as those in public schools and vice versa. One voucher school was recently close to shut-down, b/c their grading system made it easier for their pupils to achieve high grades. Also, voucher schools are not allowed to charge students, if they do they don't recieve any public money.