Improving public schools will benefit us all

e-mail this story discuss this issue in our forums Guest column • Lynn B. Stovall: Simple lifestyle changes can save water and money (06/16/04) • Terry Weaver: Seeking companies with 'InnoVision' (06/14/04) • Walter Ezell: With low-carb diets, you really can win by losing (06/13/04) • Gov. Mark Sanford: Forces of change making a difference in Columbia (06/12/04) • David Shi: Mankind should always strive to 'dwell in a sense of possibility' (06/12/04) More details Baxter Wynn of Greenville is a member of the board of directors of the Alliance of Quality Education. He is minister of pastoral care and community relations at First Baptist Church.

The fact that vouchers appeal to some of our citizens is not surprising. A voucher is a tax credit (that always has a nice ring to it) that goes to parents to help pay for the cost of attending a private or religious school. Under Gov. Mark Sanford's plan, the tax credits may also be used to defray the costs associated with home schooling — an increasingly popular option in South Carolina.

The idea of individual families having options and choices outside the public school system is very enticing to some. Naturally, families already paying for children to be enrolled in private or religious schools are particularly fond of the promise of getting a little assistance from state coffers.

It is interesting however, that the results of studies conducted on various voucher programs across the country to determine whether or not the programs actually produce positive results are, at best, inconclusive. There are studies claiming wonderful results and others showing no academic difference between voucher students and public school students. If someone cites a "definitive" study on the subject of vouchers, rest assured there is another "definitive" study with different conclusions.

We have all heard the claims for vouchers. Introduce free-market economics, i.e., competition, into our public schools, and those schools will improve their performance. This claim is based on the assumption that our teachers are complacent, giving only moderate effort, and if forced to compete, they will "get on the stick," work longer and harder, and school performance will improve. Tell that to the thousands of dedicated, hard-working teachers in Greenville County Schools.

Our family was put off by the slick promotional piece recently delivered to our house. The promise reads: "If it passes, YOU will be given money (through a state tax credit) to put YOUR child in the school of YOUR choice." That seems to me to be a very self-centered point of view.

Does it not make sense to view the educational needs of our students from a broad perspective rather than from the perspective of an individual family? We are all in this together. One inescapable reality is that voucher programs are only going to serve a small percentage of students across our state. Our family questions: If WE are given state tax dollars to help US send OUR child to the private school of OUR choice, is that really in the best interest for the education of ALL our students in the state of South Carolina?

Those seeking to introduce a voucher program can offer no guarantee that such a program will actually improve our schools. If our goal is improving overall student achievement, there are clear steps we can take with proven results. These steps include:

Increased investment in early childhood education.

Academic assistance to students scoring below standards on state tests.

Reducing class size.

Paying competitive salaries to attract and keep quality teachers.

Supporting efforts to increase parental involvement.

The word "public" comes from the Latin "publius," which means people. Our state public schools exist for the common good. From my perspective, rather than encouraging and enabling individual families to "opt out," our best hope for improving education in South Carolina is for citizens and public officials to keep the focus on improving the entire state public school system. That benefits us all.