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Background on School Choice


School Choice

‘School Choice’ generally refers to a school district allowing parents to decide which school within the district to send their kids to. The political issue is whether to allow the choice to include private schools, parochial schools, and home schooling at taxpayer expense. Taxpayer funding of parochial schools potentially violates the Constitutional separation of church and state. Taxpayer funding of private schools is controversial because it subsidizes parents who are currently paying for private schools themselves, and are usually more wealthy than the average public school family.

Charter Schools

‘Charter schools’ are publicly-funded and publicly-controlled schools which are privately run. They are usually required to adhere to fewer district rules than regular public schools.

Vouchers

‘Vouchers’ are a means of implementing school choice -- parents are given a ‘voucher’ by the school district, which entitles them to, say, $4,000 applicable to either public school or private school tuition. The value of the voucher is generally lower than the cost of one year of public education (which averages $5,200), so private schools (where tuition averages $8,500) may require cash payment in addition to the voucher.

Education Buzzwords

Generally, any reference to ‘standards,’ or especially to dealing with ‘failing schools’, implies support of school vouchers. Generally, any reference to ‘smaller classrooms,’ or especially to ‘building public schools’, implies opposition to funding private schools. Further decoding of education buzzwords are detailed under Education.

K-12 Education Statistics

Related issues:

Education.
Children.
Education Spending:
DOE Budget


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Click here for The Forum discussion on School Choice.
Click here for policy papers on School Choice.
Other candidates on School Choice: Background on other issues:
Carol Moseley Braun
George W. Bush
Dick Cheney
Wesley Clark
Howard Dean
John Edwards
Dick Gephardt
Bob Graham
John Kerry
Dennis Kucinich
Joe Lieberman
Al Sharpton

Past & Future Candidates:
Pat Buchanan
Bill Clinton
Hillary Clinton
Elizabeth Dole
Al Gore
John McCain
Ralph Nader
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