Some Arguments on the Phenomenon of Expense on Choosing School in China Yang Mei 11/08/2010

A Case from Minnesota A. One of the earliest states that realized educational option of families in the USA. B. The regulations in Minnesota’s law a. children must receive compulsory education before 16. b. parents have right to send their kids to the school which they think is best C. School choice among public schools in American is free

Two Questions on School Choice in China Do Chinese parents have right to choose public schools for their children? Should the Chinese parents be charged for expense by the schools as they perform the right of educational option?

The Rationality of the Existence of School Choice in China The right of schools choice. The limitation of quality education resources the serious unbalance in basic education The increasing need for quality education Most parents approved the school choice.

Parents’ Attitude toward the School Choice According to the survey on Chinese education of Beijing Normal University in 2009, When parents were asked what your opinion about school choice, as high as ％ parents expressed their full endorsement or basic approval, only 25.52% parents expressed their disagreement, while the number of students who selected schools only accounts for 40.5% of the total number of school students.

A level middle school (%) B level middle school (%) C level middle school (%) A level elementary school (%) B level elementary school (%) Capital Cities Medium Cities

The Second Question  My Arguments Though the existence of school choice is logical, the existence of the expense on choosing school is quite unreasonable.

Argument One Opinions: the expense on school choice will make the poor lose the right of choosing school. This further means the poor have no chance to attend the key schools.

Argument One  Reasons Public schools are free. Parents shouldn’t pay for their educational option among public schools. If they pay for this, it means the chance of entering public schools is not equal to everyone, rich men have the right of priority to choose schools because of their enough money.

Argument Two Opinion: the expense on choosing school will deepen the unbalance of educational development.

The Existing Unbalance of Educational Development Reasons: the dual structure in urban and rural areas elitism education system

Elitism Education System deliberately set key schools and non-key schools. put a lot of manpower and resources to the key schools.

The Harm of Elitism Education System With the establishment of the key schools, public resources are largely occupied by the key schools and the man-made unbalanced education is produced

Argument Two Reasons: if the public key schools charge for the fee on choosing school, it can only mean the key schools snatch the public educational resources once again. As the school choice of most Chinese parents usually concentrates on key schools, the expense will inevitably inflow into the key schools.

Argument Two Results: The key schools will become the biggest winner. The strong becomes stronger and the weak becomes weaker. The expense on choosing schools will deepen the gap between the key schools and the weak schools and eventually make Chinese education go to the opposite side of balanced education.

Argument Three Supporters’ Opinion the expense on choosing schools can make up for the lack of public educational funds.

Argument Three Supporters’ Reasons: As the limitation of quality education resources is undeniable facts, moderately charging for the fee on school choice can compensate the lack of public educational funds. The expense can be used to improve the quality of the typical schools. Thus, our society can provide more and higher quality educational resources.

Argument Three Opponents’ Questions: Is the part of expense on choosing key schools really used to rebuild the weak schools? Is the expense which the key schools hand in enough to make up for the lack of public educational resources?

Argument Three The answer from Chong Qing City In 2005 in the period of the NPC &CPPCC (National People's Congress & Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference), more than ten NPC members questioned the local education bureaus of Chongqing city. Where is the expense on choosing schools going?

Argument Three The answer from Chong Qing City Some NPC members pointed out there is even no any record of the millions of money every year on choosing schools in the key schools. According to the finance bureau of Chongqing city, the key schools never handed in any money to them. So where is the money going?

Argument Three The answer from Chong Qing City the words of a headmaster of Chongqing gave the evidence: the expense on choosing schools which is taken from the students is also used on the students

Argument Three The expense on choosing schools is not enough to make up for the lack of public educational funds. In the circumstance of total lack of the current educational outlay, even the key schools still have a tight budget, much less the weak schools.

Conclusions The existence of school choice is logical in China. The existence of the expense on choosing school is unreasonable and harmful. The essential reason that led to charging for fee on school choice is the absence of governmental responsibility. There is no shirking the responsibilities for the Chinese government.

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