Name: Ima Sample

Holloway, John H. (2000/2001). School Choice and Lessons Learned. Educational Leadership, 58 (4), 81-82.

Pros and cons of the newly popular idea of school choice.

Short description of Subjects:

Parental choice in selecting the school(s) their children will attend; vouchers; charter schools vs. public schools

The study was conducted by compiling statistics from the National Center for Educational Statistics (2000), reviewing case studies, and through compiling research from several professional journalists regarding the school choice option, vouchers, charter schools, and public schools.

Mr. Holloway found that recently (1999) more students than ever before have been attending schools that their parents had selected and as a result of this choice, the parents were more pleased with their child's education. A few problems that the research identified were that the choice option may possibly increase the "separation of students by race, social class, and cultural background" and that they may not necessarily improve student learning. He also gathered research from other journalists regarding charter schools vs. public schools. He noted several different findings such as: parents, students, and especially teachers were pleased with their experience in the charter school; some charter schools didn't differ much from the public schools when it came to accountability and offerings; some charter schools are more expensive, and don’t demonstrate increase in performance; charter schools attract a diverse population; and that the presence of charter schools boosted the morale of surrounding public schools.

Holloway concludes that school choice is promising, but that it needs to be cautiously implemented. He also addresses that this "choice" should not give people the idea that the public and the government can back off, but that we still need to share in the responsibility of educating all of America's children.

This article confirmed my beliefs that parents should play the most important role in their child's education and that as a teacher I need to respect and honor parental support. Whether we decide to offer choice or not does not and should not affect my desire to teach.