Should the Federal Government be Involved in State-Funded Public Education?

In the United States, personal choice is highly valued. The individual is paramount to the American ideal, and the country’s Founders made it a point to focus on the rights that each person has to make the best life that they possibly can for themselves and their family. In terms of education, that choice has arguably been taken away from the public and placed in the hands of bureaucrats that draw lines based on zip codes and property tax rates to send children from certain areas to certain schools. Through the use of theories on policy change, I propose a plan to alter the education system in the United States. Careful policy analysis reveals the possibility of creating a system that is more responsive to parents and students who desire improved educational quality, broader selection opportunities, and greater efficiency in public educational funding. This paper includes the investigation of a state-funded voucher system as a more efficient and effective way to offer public education. Such a program seems likely to offer more control and better educational outcomes than the current policy arrangement