Your Results
Your survey results place you in the following category:
Category 2:
Restructure public schooling
People in Category 2 have a variety of opinions on what should be done. Perhaps the only idea they hold in common is their dissatisfaction with the current public school system. Most want to restructure the system, not merely reform it.
Below are links to help people of different approaches find information that might be helpful regarding Charter schools, vouchers, tax-credits, and unschooling.
Charter schools are a special kind of public school that have a charter from the state or a designated agency to operate a school. Typically they are allowed considerable creativity by being relieved many of the state regulations on standard public schools. They also differ from conventional public schools because they can be privately owned by non-profit or even for-profit companies.
To find out more, try:
Center for Education Reform
Charter Schools Development Center
Edison Schools
North West Regional Education Laboratory
US Charter Schools
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Often called "school choice," or "tuition vouchers," or "school vouchers," this concept likes to say it "straps the money on the child's back" and he takes it to the school of his parents choice. Vouchers received a lot of national publicity in mid 2002 with the Supreme Court's "Zelman decision" that approved the Cleveland voucher system.
In the voucher controversies, four sides have developed.
The original two sides might be called the Voucher-Right and the Anti-voucher Left. In the 1990s, the Voucher-Left and the Anti-voucher Right emerged. (For simplicity sake, free-market conservatives and libertarians are lumped in "the Right.")
From the Left — Favoring vouchers
Black Alliance for Educational Options
Matthew Miller's article in July 1999 Atlantic Monthly
SchoolChoiceInfo.org
From the Left — Against vouchers
American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
Americans United for the Separation of Church and State
National Education Association (NEA)
People for the American Way
From the Right — Favoring vouchers
Eagle Forum
Cato Institute and Debate on vouchers (Joseph Bast & David Harmer vs. Douglas)
Family Research Council
Focus on the Family
Heartland Institute
Heritage Foundation
Milton and Rose Friedman Foundation
School Reformers.com
Reason Foundation
From the Right — Against vouchers
Alliance for the Separation of School and State
Chalcedon Foundation
Future of Freedom Foundation
Cato Institute: Debate on vouchers (Joseph Bast & David Harmer vs. Douglas)
Home School Legal Defense Association
LewRockwell.com
Gary North: Educational Vouchers, the Double Tax
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Many different tax credit proposals have been made in the world of K-12 education. The main difference between a tax credit and a tax deduction is that a tax credit is usually (but not always) a dollar-for-dollar reduction of tax, where a tax-deduction is a reduction of income which reduces the tax by the amount of the person's tax bracket.
For example, a $100 tax credit reduces the tax payable by $100 for people in low as well as high tax brackets. A $100 tax deduction would reduce taxes by $40 for someone in the 40 percent bracket, but only $20 for someone in the 20 percent bracket.
In the world of K-12 education, a variety of tax credits have been proposed and a few implemented. Here are some links with information on different styles of tax credits:
Favoring tax-credits
Universal Tax Credit
Arizona Scholarship Tax Credit
Ron Paul's "Family Education Freedom Act"
There is opposition to tax credits from both Left and Right. These links will be added at a later time.
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Some parents believe that children should be making education decisions at a far earlier age than has been customary in American culture. In a campus setting, this approach is sometimes called "democratic schooling." The Sudbury Valley School is a leading example. Growing Without Schooling is a leading organization in the home schooling version, often called "Unschooling." Here are several other websites you may find instructive:
AERO The Alternative Education Resource Network
Cedarwood Sudbury School (Calif.)
Libertarian Unschooling Webpage
The New School (Delaware)
Learn in Freedom
A.S. Neill's Summerhill School (England)
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You are welcome to visit the other categories:
People in Category 1 believe that government schools are doing a good job but they need more resources to do their best job. Many believe that some changes would be good. Examples of such changes include smaller class size, longer school day, longer school year, higher teacher wages, additional teacher training, and pre-Kindergarten available to all. Most believe public schools do not need the pressures of vouchers, tax credits, or other competitors.
People in Category 3 believe the best way to improve education is to get the local, state, and federal governments out of K-12 schooling. Many of them have endorsed a public "Proclamation for the Separation of School and State." You can see the Proclamation — and add your name if you wish — by clicking here.
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