VOA慢速英语2021--新冠病毒危机引发择校之争

Last spring, Kelli Rivera of Atlanta, Georgia, became so concerned with how local schools were dealing¹ with the coronavirus pandemic that she decided² to teach her children at her home.

Her children are back in public school and mostly attending class in person - for now.

But Rivera is thinking about putting her younger son in private school next year. And she hopes the state of Georgia might help her pay for it with an increase of school choice programs.

In many American states, lawmakers and supporters of school choice are hoping to use the concerns of parents like Rivera to pass new laws about school choice. School choice suggests the use of public money to pay for private schools or teaching at home.

Supporters and opponents

Some kind of school choice program already gets public money in 29 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, notes EdChoice, a group that supports school choice.

Supporters of school choice say they hope to make new gains this year as public opinion studies around the U.S. show private schools have been more likely to offer in-person learning.

John Schilling is President of the American Federation³ for Children, a group that supports school choice programs.

Schilling used terms such as "mad" and "frustrated⁴" to describe how parents feel. He added that the pandemic has shown "how inflexible⁵ the K-12 system is."

K-12 means kindergarten through 12th grade – the beginning year through the end year of the public school system.

Opponents of school choice argue that such programs will take money from traditional public schools. Opponents suggest that school choice programs could be damaging for areas that serve low-income families.

Vouchers⁷ play an important role in the debate. Vouchers are publicly financed savings⁸ accounts and tax credits to be used for private schools.

Voucher⁶ programs generally target students in less wealthy areas where schools are struggling.

But opponents argue in some cases vouchers help families who could pay their own way for private school.

Jessica Levin of the Education Law Center said that vouchers take "money from public schools and ... allow private schools to discriminate⁹ in all kinds of ways."

The Education Law Center is part of an anti-voucher group called Public Funds for Public Schools.

Levin said private schools are not required to admit students. She added that private schools do not have their academic results publicly examined and they may not offer special education services.

New proposals

There are new proposals in many states that already offer help with funding for private schools and homeschooling.

The proposals appear more likely to pass in Republican-controlled states, where schools have been more likely to open for in-person classes.

In Georgia, Republican state Rep. Wes Cantrell has introduced a bill that would create educational savings accounts. These accounts would let parents use money to pay for private schools or home-schooling costs. The proposal would give the money to different groups, including students in areas not offering full in-person classes.

"The major concern I've had over the last year has been from parents who don't have a public school offering in-person classes," Cantrell said. "If the public schools are not meeting their needs, they should have another choice."

In Missouri, Republican Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden said his top priority is a bill giving tax breaks for donations to organizations providing scholarships to private schools or other public schools outside a student's home district. School choice measures have failed in the state many times before.

Rowden, who sends his child to a private Christian¹⁰ school, told the Associated Press recently, "I've got a lot of left and center-left friends who are more frustrated with the public school system than they ever have been in their lives." He added that such parents have realized "they have so little control over the say of their kid's education that something needs to be done about it."

In Indiana, which already has one of the nation's largest voucher programs, Republicans are trying to increase the number of students getting help by up to 40 percent next year.

Rivera herself wonders about the conflict between her wishes to support her kids and support public schools.

"I would love to put my kids where I can offer certainty," she said, "but I don't know what that does to our schools, I don't know the stresses it puts on our teachers.

Words in This Story

frustrated – adj. discouraged, or upset because of being unable to do or complete something

inflexible – adj. not easily changed

account – n. an arrangement in which a bank keeps a record of the money that a person puts in and takes out of the bank

priority – n. something that is more important than other things and that needs to be done or dealt with first

district – n. an area or region containing the schools that a school board is in charge of

stress – n. a state of mental tension and worry caused by problems in your life, work, etc.

1 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

4 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 inflexible   

adj.不可改变的，不受影响的，不屈服的

参考例句：

• Charles was a man of settled habits and inflexible routine.查尔斯是一个恪守习惯、生活规律不容打乱的人。
• The new plastic is completely inflexible.这种新塑料是完全不可弯曲的。

6 voucher   

n.收据；传票；凭单，凭证

参考例句：

• The government should run a voucher system.政府应该施行凭证制度。
• Whenever cash is paid out,a voucher or receipt should be obtained.无论何时只要支付现金，就必须要有一张凭据或者收据。

7 vouchers   

n.凭证( voucher的名词复数 )；证人；证件；收据

参考例句：

• These vouchers are redeemable against any future purchase. 这些优惠券将来购物均可使用。
• This time we were given free vouchers to spend the night in a nearby hotel. 这一次我们得到了在附近一家旅馆入住的免费券。 来自英语晨读30分（高二）

8 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

9 discriminate   

v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待

参考例句：

• You must learn to discriminate between facts and opinions.你必须学会把事实和看法区分出来。
• They can discriminate hundreds of colours.他们能分辨上百种颜色。

10 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。