A Competition Never Hurts

The Missouri Public Schools are not doing very well. The way I see it, the entire program is in need for a major overhaul. The education system is not something that only parents of children in failing schools have passion for. Education reform, school choice, and education spending are issues that most people pay attention to. Politicians make their view points very clear on these issues. Education is the one tool our children have to get access to a successful future.

Mike Huckabee, a presidential candidate says “We need to judge the success of our schools by the results we obtain, not the revenue we spend.” School spending does not dictate how well the schools are doing or how well they will do. Yet, there are many Missouri school districts that feel they need more money to improve, as seen in the school adequacy case. What the school system needs is an internal mechanism that pushes schools to improve.

School choice would not only help the parents by allowing them to decide where and how their children are being educated, but it would also make the schools strive to improve. The schools would have to compete in order to be appealing to the students and the parents. The schools would finally have a strong motive to improve; one they do not have now. Now, the schools will continue to get money, as long as there are children that live in those districts and people pay their taxes. There is no strong incentive for the school to improve, to excel. The children deserve better than average. They deserve only the best and now we have to work to give it to them.