would also give parents more involvement in a student’s education, and parental involvement is powerfully linked with student achievement. A school voucher system would help students, teachers, and schools that are struggling. Though still in their infancy, school voucher programs have improved overall student academic achievement in public schools. Programs that include religious schools and those limited to public institutions alone have both demonstrated that choice leads to higher quality education. When public schools are faced with the possibility of large student transfers and a corresponding loss of funding, they have shown a willingness to make improvements both in teaching methods and curriculum. Teachers and administrators become aware of changes needed in a declining system, if only to preserve their jobs. Public schools, which lose students because of vouchers, need to reevaluate and retool their curriculum and examine their standards. The funding available to education should remain the same even with a voucher system; the government will simply distribute those funds differently to produce the best results. In conclusion, school vouchers will not cause our public school system to fail; it is already failing on its own accord in many ways.Impoverished urban neighborhoods put many urban public schools especially at risk for crime. The awareness, threat, or experience of school violence can result in a growing sense of fear, and fear erodes the academic environment. Children who continuously expend energy to defend themselves against real or imagine dangers have difficulty learning. Under similarly stressful conditions, teachers may become less effective in the classroom. Ironically, certain measures designed to improve school safety may, in some cases, create a school atmosphere that is detrimental to the learning process. For example, teachers and students may consider the presence of metal detectors, sec...
