The Idea of an Essay, Volume 4

Research Writing 133 given to a Florida voucher school that was also run by a convicted felon and may have never used the money for actual school purposes (AFT, 2006). The AFT seems to raise some valid concerns over free choice in education. To first address the issue of fraud, I will admit that it is a travesty to have stories of fraud and abuse come from voucher schools. But then again, it’s a travesty to have fraud and abuse in any educational facility, and I believe that free choice best stifles the likelihood that fraud will exist. Milton Friedman (1975) provided the basis for this line of logic: How can one assure that the voucher is spent for schooling not diverted to other family expenses? The answer is that the voucher would have to be spent in an approved school or teaching establishment. True, this does mean some government regulation of the schools, but of course private schools are regulated to an extent now, to assure that attendance at them satisfies compulsory schooling requirements. Compared to current regulation of public schools, the government requirements in a voucher plan would be a mere trifle. (Point #3) Friedman’s remarks are not only a commendation of free choice but also an indictment against the governmental control of schools. The AFT, in its reporting, makes a logical slip by assuming that public schools do not suffer from mishaps related to fraud. In his book Hostile Takeover, Matt Kibbe outlines some issues of fraud and abuse that exist in the public school system, many of which are connected to teacher tenure. The issue is not necessarily that teachers are tenured, but rather that this tenure, coupled with government bureaucracy, makes the removal of poor teachers nearly impossible. In New Jersey, four years time and $283,000 were spent trying to fire a public school teacher who physically abused students (Kibbe, 2012). A New York City public school teacher who sent sexually explicit emails to a sixteen-year-old student was fired only after a six year wait was completed and $350,000 was paid to him (Kibbe, 2012). In total, New York City taxpayers spend nearly $20 million per year trying to fire poor teachers from the public school system while they sit in “rubber rooms” and collect full salary for not teaching (Kibbe, 2012). I could wax eloquent about this point, but the fact is that fraud and abuse are part of any system, even those in education.