School Vouchers should be used in Georgia’s Schools - Writing Essay

School Vouchers should be used in Georgia’s Schools

As the parent of an elementary school age child, I find myself with a wealth of concerns regarding my child’s education. Will he receive an education competitive with other schools in the area? Is his school safe? The deplorable spread of drug-use, crime, and promiscuity in public schools means that my child is exposed to an environment that is anything but conductive to his education. Does the school share the same concerns that I do, as a parent? If the answer is no, then my only other options are sending him to a private school, which I cannot afford; or to have him home schooled, which isn’t feasible given the fact that my husband and I both work full-time and I also attend college. So what am I left with? Nothing. But if school vouchers were used in the State of Georgia, there would be one more option available to me that could more realistically be utilized that would benefit our whole family, and many other Georgians.

There is a large degree of controversy surrounding school vouchers. Much of the controversy arises from individuals worried that it will force atheist children, for example, to be exposed to a religious education. Or that it would put more favoritism on religious private schools. This is not the case however. Although, attending a religious school would still be an option, it is not the only one. Traditional schools still exist. School vouchers would create a competitive environment, much like the retail market in the United States.

Take for example Wal-Mart, Barnes & Noble, and a Christian bookstore. You can find a book at all three of these stores. You have the right to choose where you want to purchase your book. You can purchase a book from a limited, but lower priced selection at Wal-Mart. But you might not get exactly what you are looking for, therefore the money you spent on a lower priced novel was a waste. The Christian bookstore is still an option, but for the sake of argument let’s say that what you are looking for isn’t a book with a religious theme. Because you are free to choose you do not have to purchase your book there. Based on what you know about Barnes & Noble you decide to purchase a book there. It offers the wide selection that you are looking for, and doesn’t subject you to anything you do not believe in. This is similar to how the educational system would work under the school voucher system. You can take your money and apply it to the school that is most fit for your child’s education.

Competition is another parallel between the school voucher system and the retail market. Great customer service and products that are safe and reliable tend to be successful in the United States. Why should a child’s education be any different? If schools had to compete with every other school in any given area for higher enrollment, and subsequently higher revenue, the result would be a better education available to all children. Not just minorities, not just Christians, not just the upper class. All children. I don’t see the prejudice in that. What I see is a more successful educational system across Georgia, and the United States, producing higher-achieving, more intelligent individuals entering adulthood.

With the freedom to choose which school your child attends, also comes the freedom to live where you see fit. How many times, during a new home search, do people inquire about the school system? What if the perfect home in a perfect neighborhood comes along with the perfect price? Do you turn away from this dream because the school system is substandard? With school voucher system, you are free to live wherever you want, without the concerns of whether or not the closest school is right for your child. From my own personal experience, this makes purchasing a new home much easier. During my own new home search, I was appalled at the limited area I had to work with to keep my child in a particular school district. But just a mile away was the “perfect house” in a worse school district.

Vouchers are not about handouts for the poor, or even for the rich. It is about opening the doors to more educational opportunities. Some private schools may find that they have to raise tuition costs to offset any possible spike in enrollment, but they have that right. With the increase in competition with private schools, public schools will need to increase the quality of the education being given to children. For families on the lower end of the income spectrum it means a decent education, once only offered from private schools. Under the current system, public schools do not have much incentive to raise test scores or to provide a better learning environment. They only do enough to pass, as an entire school, the minimum guidelines set forth by the state. But given competition and an incentive to higher enrollment, higher revenue, and possibly even higher pay, you will find a surge in their efforts. Very similar to the way that states across the United States work to move to the top of the list when it comes to standardized test scores. Private schools will not be the only option parents have for their children’s higher education. It can be provided by public schools whom step up their efforts. As opposed to the system today, where your child often receives a substandard education and there isn’t much say you have in the matter.

They say that children are our future. If we, as a country, expect to move to the front of the line in a world full of ever increasingly more intelligent individuals, we need to make a change with our own educational system. Funneling more and more dollars to failing schools is not the answer for all American children. I believe that a more competitive educational environment is the first, and most productive step, in the right direction. All families should have the right to select which school their child attends, based on their own educational goals, personal values, and beliefs. School vouchers provide just that. A step in the right direction.

Adding Emails from my Pregnancy

Today I am going to start adding emails that I sent to people while I was pregnant with Colin. I didn't keep a physical diary while I was pregnant and I regret that. I lost a baby October 2003 and I kept a diary with that baby. Once I was pregnant with Colin I was too scared to do anything that I did with the last baby. We called it Baby Bear. I was Momma Bear LOL But maybe with the emails I saved with my pregnancy I can use that as a diary.

Today I sent out for a diet patch. I've lost alot of weight since Colin was born. I'm already weighing less than I did before he was born. But I want to be back down to the 110-120 that I was before Cody. Right now I have 50 pounds to go. Whew! I also sent out for an ebook on how to make money on ebay. It's something I've been doing research on for the last month or two and I'm really considering it. We will see how that goes!

Hump Day

Today is Wednesday already. Can't wait until Friday.

I called my mom last night. She was a mess. She said my brother and his girlfriend were splitting up. They've been together for 6 years and have a little girl. The four of them live together. My brother is a firefighter/paramedic and I think his jobs is too stressful for him. I don't think he should quit, I just think he needs counseling. There's a bunch of changes that they are talking about, but I don't think everything will end up happening. He really needs help. He's been pretty screwy with his girlfriend too. I really don't see him being with anyone else. My $25 says they will work it all out.

I looked online too see how much a plane ticket would be for my mom to fly down. If she does it right, it would be $59 each way. But with her job I don't see her getting time off. But she needs to get away.

I've got SO much done tonight. I've got dishes done, 3 loads of laundry done, my bedroom cleaned, and supper cooked. Colin goes to the doctor tomorrow. His rash has gotten worse and he's got mucous in his stools. They want to check it to see if he's passing a little blood too.

Well, it's off to bed for me!

Getting Started

I didn't make it to bed until 1:30 am last night. Colin decided to wake up to eat. Then he woke up again around 4:30 to eat and never went back to sleep. I gave him to Marty at 6:30 so I could get Cody ready for school. After dropping Cody off I went to meet with the guy at the company I'm making the site for. He got the domain name set up and the hosting was giving us trouble. Since he had another meeting to get ready for, I left and went home. Shortly after I got home he called me back because he was having trouble with it again. I talked him through it and he let me go. He ended up having to call me about 4 times. But he got it going!

Then I went in the bedroom with Marty & Colin and went to sleep. He had Fox News on and while I slept I was listening to what was going on and dreamt I was in Iraq. It was so scary. I can't imagine what it is like really being there. Or taken hostage. That's a place filled with pure evil. I hope things get better there.

Well, I finally started on the website more.

Oh my Mom just sent an email telling me to call her when I got that message. Hope nothing is wrong.....

The Deal

Well I had the meeting this morning and they've decided to go with me for their webpage development. I have to go back again tomorrow morning to set up the domain name and hosting. I am so tired. I went to bed yesterday around 2am. I got up at 6:30 and stayed up. I took a nap around 4 until 5:30. I'm ready to drop. I'm still up because I got started on the color scheme for the web page and got started on their logo. I also tried looking at one of their competitors websites, but it was so heavy with Flash that it kept locking up my computer.

Cody and his friend are both grounded for a week. He stayed with his friend and her friend while we went to church yesterday. When we were leaving, he wanted the house key and we told him no. Turns out before we left he unlocked the back door so he could get back in the house. While we were gone, the friend of his friend went into our bedroom and went through all of our drawers. We figured it out as soon as we got home and boy did Cody get in trouble! His birthday get-together is Saturday and I'd hate for him not to have his friend over for it. Plus school is out Thursday and it *would* be nice for him to play with her that day. I'll talk to her mom and see if she's been on good behaviour. Maybe we can take them off of their punishment a little bit in advance... but I don't want them not to learn their lesson. UGH!

Well, I'm off to bed! Maybe I'll have to post again tomorrow?????????

A Nice Saturday

Today was nice. Cody had a few friends sleep over last night and they were up early. Helped me to wake up with the baby. I'm trying to lose the extra baby pounds so I had 3 cups of coffee and didn't eat until 7 tonight. What did I do after that? Started a fire in the fireplace and roasted marshmallows! Of course!

I got the kids email accounts so I could register them with a Santa's Wish List at walmart.com. I had fun making a list for the baby. I'll have Cody make his tomorrow so everyone knows what he wants. He's hard to shop for sometimes. He really needs jeans. He wears through jeans so quickly.

I'm excited about Christmas this year. I hope we get snow, which it's unlikely. I miss Christmas in Ohio, where I grew up. We always had lots of snow to go with Christmas.

I had a very nice day being with Marty. I love him so much. My days are always wonderful when we're together.

Well, need to get to bed! Church and Steelers game tomorrow. We are going to Atlanta to show Colin off to everyone at the Steelers bar!

The Call

This morning I woke up when Marty came to me saying I had a phone call. It turned out to be one of the guys I had an interview with the other day. He said the interview went well with me and they were calling some people back for another interview. There are two other people who have more Quickbooks experience. But if things don't work out with them... But they want to meet with me on Monday morning to negotiate a deal designing their webpage. They said the work I did with my last jobs website was impressive and they want to use me. The amount of money I would get from that would come in just in time for the holidays. Plus Marty is selling his vacation. There's alot more money. Maybe someone is looking out for us, after all.

The baby has a bad diaper rash. I think the reason why is that Halloween was last weekend and I ate lots of chocolate since then. I'm breast feeding and supplimenting with a soy formula because he's allergic to milk-based formulas. I think eating the chocolate has a bad effect on him. He's got a horrible diaper rash. The poor baby SCREAMS when changing his diaper. He's got diarrhea too, which means I have to change him all the time. I don't want him sitting in the mess and making the rash worse. I've used Desitin creamy and he screams after I put it on. I don't think it's supposed to burn, but it does. So I'm trying cornstarch powder. It's just not helping. I've tried airing him out too. I've stopped eating the chocolate of course. Now I'm just waiting for the rash to clear. I just hope he isn't having a reaction to the ProSobee. Then he'd have to go on the hypo-allergenic formula, Nutramigen. I can't afford it right now. I have an appointment with WIC in a few weeks to see if I qualify. That would help so much.

Well, I still have alot of work to do around the house so I'm out!