I'm currently reading a book about how American public schools are going down the toilet. I don't need a 250-page book to tell me this, having graduated so recently from one such school, but it is still an interesting read about a topic that will always fascinate me. This morning I read something in this book that I thought was important enough to postpone my planned article to next week and write this one. My book talks briefly about private school vouchers. These vouchers are not available in many cities, and in fact they may have no future at all. But I believe they are very important.

It is obvious that public schools are not doing well, just as it is obvious that students of private schools perform much better academically than students of public schools. So, in a few cities, the government has begun to give parents a choice. Parents can apply for a voucher so that their child can go to a private school. The state will pay for children to go to private schools! At very first glance I thought this was a bad idea, for the same reasons the public shools oppose it - it takes away money that is desperately needed for public schools and their students!

After a moment's thought, though, I decided that vouchers are a great idea. Parents should have a choice about how they want to educate their children. And if public schools continue to perform poorly, more and more parents will use these vouchers, and public schools will be forced to either improve or close down! It's the same principle that drives our economy: competition. Public schools must reform or they will "go under." So, I think private school vouchers are a good idea because they give kids the best possible education, as well as provide the competition necessary for public schools to get in gear and start improving their curriculum.

From what this book tells me, private school vouchers only truly work in one city, Milwaukee. Other cities, such as Cleveland and New York City, are trying to instate a voucher program, but there are snags in the courts. Courts are debating as to whether or not these vouchers are constitutional, because the vouchers may send some students to religious private schools. This violates our mandatory separation of church and state. Milwaukee allows the vouchers as long as the private schools don't require any voucher students to participate in the religious aspects. Other cities are still debating in the courts. This book was published in 1999, however, so these courts have probably made some progress that I don't know about.

The future of private school vouchers is pretty shaky. There are so many opponents within the public education community who will fight 'til the end to make sure they are put down. I think this is only a sign that they are scared that they will have to either wise up or be shut down themselves. I believe this competition for public schools is a great idea, and I will do what little I can to support these vouchers and see them spread.