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The Need for Educational Change
Over the past decades, parents have been continuously dissatisfied with the public education system, causing tension within and around the public school. According to the Fast Response Survey System available through the National Center for Education Statistics, less than half of American teachers report feeling “very well prepared” to teach (NCES). In 1998, the FRSS showed that all teachers had a bachelor’s degree, and 45 percent had a master’s degree. Only 1/3 of teachers agreed strongly that parents supported them in their efforts to educate their children (NCES). These are current statistics, and though they may not necessarily prove anything about the public school system, they certainly deserve a further inquiry of how schools have evolved and changed throughout the years, and what changes are being argued about now.
In the upcoming paragraphs, a look at the evolution of the idea of choice in school, starting with the “Role of Government in Education”, and following with a 1970 court case, will provide a tangible ground for deciding the future of the home-school vs. public- school controversy. In 1955 Milton Friedman wrote about “The Role of Government in Education”, found in Economics and the Public Interest published by the Rutgers University Press (Kirkpatrick 47). As Friedman tackles some major controversies concerning education, he proposes tuition vouchers and long-term loans for students. The essential point here is whether parental incompetence is greater than governmental incompetence, and whether the government has the right to make that choice for parents. On the public school side, the argument is that parents make mistakes just as easily as teachers. Although it is guaranteed that parents will make mistakes also, these mistakes are easier to fix because they only affect a few. Furthermore, even the most caring teacher does not come close to how caring a parent is. A teacher sees the result of a lesson by a grade; a parent sees that result every day of the child’s life, in everything that the child does. Therefore, the argument that mistakes may be made should not even be relevant in this debate, because mistakes are already being made (Kirkpatrick 49). Ultimately, the “Role of Government in Education” debate has many complexities, and is being responded to by eager to be free home-school families.