Let parents control public school purse

Correspondence on the series about school finance seems to have missed the key point made in the Daily Herald editorial on Nov. 25: "What can be done to improve a system that quite obviously does not deliver as much of a return to students or taxpayers as any of us would like?"

The editorial noted taxpayers have lifted per-pupil spending at twice the rate of inflation over the past 10 years with no discernable effect -- only a quarter of local graduates are considered work-ready or college-ready and half of the freshmen at local community colleges have to take remedial classes before beginning their coursework.

Sadly, there are thousands of other failures hidden by misleading graduation rates on State Report Cards. For example, High School District 214 reports a 2006 graduation rate of 90.4 percent. However, there were 3,273 students in 9th grade in 2002-03, but only 2,802 graduates last year, or just 85.6 percent of those 9th-graders.

The Herald editorial concluded by saying "The only people who can change [the school system] are those who control the money."

I agree -- and the way to change the system is to transfer control of that money from school administrators to parents through school vouchers.

Vouchers have the power to effect reform of K-12 public schools because they give parents the ability to direct education tax dollars to the schools they choose, not that others choose.

The ensuing competition for students and education funds prompts public school administrators to improve their educational programs in order to attract students. Isn't that what we want?

George A. Clowes

Senior Fellow

The Heartland Institute

Chicago