The Personal Website of Mark W. Dawson

Education Vouchers for All K-12 Students

K-12 Public Education is failing to meet its duties and responsibilities to educate children to become contributing members of society when they reach adulthood. The systemic problems of "Public Education" begs the question if the current Public School system needs to be dissolved and replaced with another foundation, as I have Chirped on, "03/24/21 Is it Time to End Public Education?". These problems, along with the issues discussed in my new Article, “Free Speech and Parental Rights”, along with the issue that I have examined in my Article on "Indoctrination versus Education", exacerbate the problems of K-12 Public Education. School Boards that are responsible for assuring the proper education of their students seem to be more concerned with pleasing teachers and administrators, and kowtowing to the demands of Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders, than doing what is best for their students and parents of their students.

These problems seem intractable, as the different protagonists are at odds as to what is best for the students and society, which raises the question:

"The most basic question is not what is best, but who shall decide what is best?"
- Thomas Sowell

When determining who shall decide what is best for students, we must be guided by the principle of Parental Rights. A parent is the person who is most responsible for the upbringing of their child, and the parent should have the most authority to determine the education standards for their children. However, society has a concern that children receive a proper and comprehensive education, which should be determined by governmental laws and regulations on educational curriculum, school district administration, and school building infrastructure.

The current K-12 Public Education is woeful in not acknowledging Parental Rights, and they are often hostile to Parental Rights. Parents that take exception to objectionable curriculum or school administrators’ actions at School Board meetings are often silenced and removed from these meetings. In some cases, they have been prosecuted for their speech and histrionics, which is a violation of the free speech rights of the parents who object.

I, therefore, believe that we must reformulate K-12 Public Education to ensure that the educational needs of the students are met while Parental Rights are recognized and acknowledged. I also believe that the only way to accomplish this, given the current protagonism in K-12 Public Education, is for the utilization of Educational Vouchers for all K-12 students. Such Educational Vouchers are to be received by the parents and then utilized by the parents at an educational institute of the parent’s choice.

In the past, we have viewed the utilization of Educational Vouchers at a religious educational institute as a violation of the doctrine of the Separation of Church and State under the First Amendment to the Constitution of “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. I believe that this is an incorrect way to view Educational Vouchers utilized at religious Educational Institutions, as it is the parents that will receive the Educational Vouchers from the government for the education of their children. It is then up to the Parents who decide which educational institutions to send their children to, including religious educational institutions. Therefore, it is not the government that is supporting a religious educational institution, but the parents that are supporting the religious educational institution with their vouchers. If an educational institute meets the educational curriculum, school administration, and school building infrastructure laws and regulations, they should be considered as providing proper and comprehensive education to the students enrolled in their educational institution, and they would be eligible to receive educational vouchers.

This utilization of Educational Vouchers for all K-12 Education, to be utilized by the parents, will make the educational institution more attuned to Parental Rights. At the same time, having educational institutions meet governmental laws and regulations on educational curriculum, school administration, and school building infrastructure will ensure that they meet the needs of society for K-12 Education.