School Vouchers vs The Common Good

Both Friedman and Coveleski make some excellent points in regards to the idea of school vouchers. I've always thought of them as a good things, such as the opportunity for "school choice," (I think that's what it's called?) where a student can be granted the choice for which school or surrounding district he/she would like to attend. With school vouchers, I figured that it would be beneficial for those less fortunate or in low-income areas to get the chance to attend a good school. Friendman supports vouchers, saying that "improved educational opportunities have lowered dropout rates, imposed discipline in schools, and reduced school violence." These are all very significant steps towards bettering the students of today's society. Also Friedman notes how a better education for all will create more apt individuals. "Improvements in education are making available a larger pool of potenially productive employees," mentioning how illiteracy is on the decline.

Although the problem I find with vouchers is that they are only offered in select areas, and probably to a select number of citizens. I don't believe that every inner-city child is offered the opportunity of a voucher, therefore those specific schools that the remainder are in are still decreasing with goodness and respectable education. Coveleski makes an excellent point in his essay, mentioning, "The schools that would be most able to attract students, and the most profitable students at that, would be the same schools that currently do so. They would be the elite and prestigious schools." Basically the same prestigious private schools would be getting all of the attention, drawing away from the needs of others schools that could be made better. If no one is taking the time to reform the bad schools, then what will happen to the children that still remain to go there? The child doesn't usually have to the choice of what school to go to, and as Coveleski points out, they can't do anything if their parent is uninformed and makes a decision for them to go to the wrong school. The kid is stuck in an unwanted position because the parents are unable to make a good decision.

While I do agree vouchers are good, they of course do have their drawbacks. I believe in bettering the lower-class educational system, and offering the voucher at the same time. Whether it will work, I have no idea.