Related Studies (Foreign)

In general terms, vouchers are tuition coupons parents can redeem

to send their child to the public or private school of their choice. By giving

the flexibility of choice to parents, all children are able to attend the school

that may best serve their needs. The voucher idea has been around for

over fifty years, but are presently only in a few U.S. states and on a limited

basis (Jacobsen, 20011). Controversy about their legality abounds, and

the reality is that there is no uniform voucher system in the country and

there is no one state with a model program for others to follow.

At first glance, the rationale behind school vouchers seems simple

enough. Under this system, the government will permit parents to send

their children to any school they want — public or private — and provide

grants in the form of coupons to make this possible. The establishment of

a voucher system attempts to free public schools from holding a monopoly

on education since with this system, parents who don't like a particular

school can send their children elsewhere (Jencks, 2008). According to

proponents, the voucher system could ultimately improve all schools and

encourage innovation and high standards of excellence.

Those in agreement with the voucher system claim these grants

could effectively overhaul the education system by generating needed

competition for U.S public schools. Ideally, disadvantaged students would

benefit from getting out of some of the worst schools in the country and

would enjoy higher academic achievement and enhanced social

opportunities. Naysayers argue that public schools don't need the

competition, they are already doing a fine job and need all the financial

support they can get. By handing students vouchers to leave public

schools, they say both resources and children would flow out (Moe, 2010).

Most will agree that parents with the financial means already have

the right of school choice by virtue of where they live, or that they can

send their children to a particular private school (Garnett & Pearsall,

2015). Vouchers are seen as a way to help those parents and children for

whom school choice is desired but is not a financial option.

The Trump administration's education budget proposes eliminating

funds for public school teacher professional development (−$2.1 billion)

and after-school programs (−$1.1 billion), while adding $1.5 billion for

private school vouchers. Trump calls the voucher line item a "down

payment" toward his campaign promise to allocate $20 billion for "school

choice."

Such calls for privatizing the nation's education system aren't new.

In 1955, economist Milton Friedman argued that taxpayer-funded

vouchers should support parents in their choice of schools. Yet, over the

next four decades, 26 states and the District of Columbia brought the

voucher issue to voters, via referenda, to change their constitutions on the

separation clause. (See the map, "School Vouchers: Public Opposition,

Legislator Support.") All failed (Doerr, 2012).

Still, the voucher movement was gaining a foothold. The city of

Milwaukee pioneered the current voucher movement in 1990, with a

program restricted to 300 students whose families had incomes less than

175% of the poverty level, and a 2002 Supreme Court decision paved the

way for statewide voucher programs. (See the sidebar, "Vouchers in the

Courts.") Most recently, the Supreme Court delivered a decision regarding

state-level prohibitions against the use of public funds for religious

institutions—a decision that could, potentially, lift restrictions on school

vouchers.

This legal battle is being fought in a political climate—at both the federal

and state levels—that appears especially receptive to vouchers. As

support for public dollars for private schools grows, proponents have

intentionally shifted their language from controversial "tax-funded

vouchers" to the more positive "school choice" (Wolfgang, 2011).

A voucher usually provides a set dollar amount, established at the

state level and often based on the school district's per-pupil expenditure

(PPE), though some vouchers cover the full cost of tuition. The state

usually delivers the money—sometimes referred to as "scholarships"—to

the private school of choice. The typical voucher amount ranges from

$2,000 to $5,000 per year (Vevea, 2016), with a national average private
school tuition of approximately $10,000 per year (Private School Review,

n.d.).

Sometimes referred to as "next-generation vouchers," ESAs cover

more than just school tuition (Cunningham, 2016). States that offer ESAs

place a set amount of taxpayer dollars into a government-authorized

savings account; families can use these dedicated monies to pay for a

whole host of approved educational expenses, such as tuition,

transportation, online courses, or tutoring. The amount provided in each

ESA varies from state to state, but tends to be based on a state's PPE.

Such ESAs differ from Coverdell ESAs (otherwise known as education

IRAs). Coverdell ESAs, created via federal legislation, offer parents tax

advantages to set aside a specific amount of money to pay for qualifying

education expenses (from kindergarten through college) for their children

(EdChoice, 2017). In contrast, state-created and -run ESAs give the

taxpayer-funded education allocation directly to parents.

A joint report by AASA, The School Superintendents Association,

and the Institution on Taxation and Economic Policy blasts tuition tax

credits for allowing nearly 20 states to "divert more than $1 billion per year

toward private schools via school voucher credits" (2017). According to

the report, donors can benefit financially from claiming both a state tax

credit and a federal deduction on the same donation. Under these tax
loopholes, wealthy taxpayers can claim tuition tax credits for donations (up

to $4,500 a year for individuals and $100,000 for corporations).

Geared toward students with disabilities, the Florida-based McKay

scholarship program has been described as a public/private "hybrid"

because families can use the state-funded vouchers at participating public

or private schools.

The state bases the scholarship amount on the allocation of public funds

(according to the student's individual education plan or 504 plan, as well

as district services provided) a student would have received at her

assigned public school or the amount of the private school's tuition,

whichever is less. Parents must pay any fees or tuition costs beyond that

set scholarship dollar amount. The average McKay voucher is slightly

more than $7,000 (Florida Department of Education, n.d.).

Created in 1999 during Jeb Bush's governorship, the McKay program is

one of the oldest and largest voucher programs for students with

disabilities (Kamenetz, 2017). Approximately 20 similar programs now

exist nationally for children with special needs (Samuels, 2017).

Literature Review (Foreign)

Julie Trivitt and Corey DeAngelis have conducted two other fiscal

analyses of the Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP). Trivitt and

DeAngelis (2016) estimated the fiscal impact of removing the LSP on total

K–12 state expenditures. 15 Accounting for both expected costs from

students who enroll in district schools per the state’s funding formula and

savings from no longer funding vouchers, they estimated that if 13.52

percent of voucher students continued to enroll in private schools, then the

state would break even. In a companion study, DeAngelis and Trivitt

(2016) examined the fiscal impact of removing the LSP from individual

school districts and estimated that between 62 and 67 Louisiana school

districts would incur a negative fiscal impact if the state’s legislature were

to remove the program.16 Thus, only two to seven school districts would

incur a net fiscal benefit if the state’s legislature were to remove the LSP.

Employing financial data from the Louisiana Department of Education, the

analysis estimated variable costs for each district. The mean estimated

variable cost was 65.2 percent of total costs, which is in line with what

other economists estimated for Louisiana (Scafidi, 2012).17 Patrick Wolf

and Michael McShane (2013) examined the fiscal effects of the District of

Columbia Opportunity Scholarship Program and estimated that the

program generated a benefitcost ratio of 2.62 (i.e., each dollar of

expenditure generated $2.62 worth of social benefits).18 Their analysis

differs from the present analysis. The current report estimates the fiscal

effects of voucher programs on budgets for state governments, local

governments, and school districts, while Wolf and McShane accounted for
the fiscal effects on social welfare by monetizing benefits associated with

high school graduation.

Robert Costrell (2010) studied the fiscal effects of the Milwaukee

Parental Choice Program and documented how those effects were

unevenly distributed across different taxpayers. 19 Overall, the program

generated a net fiscal benefit for taxpayers worth $46.7 million. Milwaukee

taxpayers incurred a net cost while local taxpayers outside of Milwaukee

incurred a net benefit. This arrangement is a unique feature with respect

to how voucher programs are funded. Also known as the “funding flaw,”

this feature will be phased out by 2024–25.20 No fiscal analysis of any

voucher programs in the United States that accounts for both costs and

savings has found that students exercising choice through voucher

programs results in a net negative fiscal impact on taxpayers.

In 2014, just 33 percent of adults ages 25 and older had acquired a

baccalaureate degree (Ryan & Bauman, 2016). The percentages are

much lower for students from lower SES families and students from

disadvantaged minorities (Park & Hossler, 2014). Many students who

enroll in post secondary education immediately after high school

completion take six years to earn their undergraduate degree. Forty

percent of the 2008 freshman cohort entering college graduated within

four years but 60 percent graduated within six years. The rates for black

and Hispanic students are much lower. Only one-fifth of black college
students earn a degree within four years, and only 41 percent earn a

degree within six years. The four- and six-year graduation rates for

Hispanic students are slightly higher but still lower than average at 31 and

54 percent (U.S. Department of Education, 2018). In addition to taking

longer to complete a bachelor’s degree, students from lower

socioeconomic background experience delays in degree attainment

because they do not enroll in college immediately after high school. Only

about 35 percent of children born in 1980-82 from families at the tenth

income decile of the distribution were even enrolled in college by age 22,

but nearly 50 percent of them had enrolled by age 28. In contrast, about

90 percent children who belong to this same birth cohort, but had families

at the 90th percentile of the income distribution, were enrolled in college

by age 22.

The many cultural and social threads connecting SES to disparities

in academic preparation needed to obtain a college degree are tightly

woven in home, school and community from the earliest days of childhood

through elementary and secondary schooling to the very eve 6 of entry

into college (Duncan and Murnane, 2011). Children exposed to lower

socio economic environments are at greater risk of traumatic stress and

other medical problems that can affect brain development (Nelson and

Sheridan, 2011). Better educated mothers speak more frequently with

their infants, use a larger vocabulary when communicating with their

toddlers, and are more likely to use parenting practices that respect the
autonomy of a growing child (Leibowitz, 1977; Guryan, Hurst, and

Kearney, 2008; Bianchi and Robinson, 1997; Hart and Risley 1995; Hoff,

2006; Hoff-Ginsberg, 1991; Philipps, 2011; Philipps, et al., 1996). Better

educated and higher income families have access to more enriched

schooling environments (Vigdor and Ludwig, 2008), and are less likely to

live in extremely impoverished communities burdened with high violent

crime rates. (Burdick-Will et al, 2013).

Literature Review (Local)

The K - 12 Basic Education Program is the flagship program of the

Department of Education in its desires to offer a curriculum which is

attuned to the 21st century. This is in the pursuance of the reform thrusts

of the Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda, a package of policy

reforms that seeks to systematically improve critical regulatory,

institutional, structural, financial, physical, cultural and information

conditions effecting basic education provision access and delivery on the

ground. The department seeks to create basic education sector that’s

capable of International Conference on Education (IECO) | 485 attainting

the country’s Education for all Objectives and the Millennium Development

Goals by the year 2015 and President Noynoy Aquino’s 10-point Basic

Education Agenda by 2016. This policy reforms are expected to introduce

critical changes necessary to further accelerate, broaden, deepen and

sustain the department’s effort in improving the quality of basic education.

 (Esther & Ethel, 2012) The K-12 education system is the public

education system that most people are familiar with today. Comprised of

13 grades, kindergarten through 12th, it refers to the public school system

in all of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and parts of

Europe as well. It is difficult to pinpoint the exact history of education, as it

has been occurring in some form for centuries in all parts of the world. The

K12 Program has been initiated by the Aquino administration where

students will have to undergo a new system of education. The Enhanced

K-12 Basic Education Program is a DepEd program that will improve the

standard of education and give more opportunities for graduating

students. Last school year 2012, Philippine education officially

implemented the K12 curriculum. Everyone knows the country (in public

schools preferably) is drastically left behind in terms of curriculum

adjustments. Grade 1 entrants in SY 2012–2013 are the first batch to fully

undergo the program, and current 1st year Junior High School students

(or Grade 7) are the first to undergo the enhanced secondary education

program.

(Kynemarie, 2013) Nolledo (1992) Article XIV of the constitution

which focused on education in which section I states that “the state shall

protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels

and shall take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all”.

The K – 12 Program “We are the last country in Asia and one of only three

countries in the world with a 10- year pre-university program” (SEAMEO,

2011) The Department of Education has formally launched its K - 12

Program, which adds 2 years to basic education in the country. This

means that aside from kindergarten, 6 years of elementary, and 4 years of

high school, students will have to undergo an additional 2 years of study in

senior high school. The Department of Education (DepEd) is currently

implementing mothertongue based multilingual education (MTB-MLE) as

part of our K-12 reform. This is not a purely pedagogical strategy for

language but a learner-centered approach. International Conference on

Education (IECO) | 486 By using the language students are comfortable

with, the MTB-MLE in the enhanced curriculum helps them develop the

language skills they need to learn the fundamentals of various subjects

from kindergarten to third grade, and to move seamlessly from home to

school. Children clearly learn best when we use the language they

understand, especially in elementary education. Additionally, prior to the

launch of MTBMLE, studies had shown that language skills mastered with

the mother tongue can enable students to learn a second and subsequent

language faster. The program has the following twin objectives: To give

every student as opportunity to receive quality education based on an

enhanced and decongested curriculum that is internationally recognized

and comparable; Develop a curriculum that is rational and focus on

excellence; Produce a pool of highly qualified and adequately trained

teachers; Achieve high academic standards, especially in Mathematics,

Science and English at all levels; Produce graduates who are globally
competitive and whose credential are recognized internationally; To

change public perception that high school education is just a preparation

for college; rather, it should allow one to take advantage of opportunities

for gainful career or employment and/or self-employment in a rapidly

changing and increasingly globalized environment; produce graduates

who possess skills and competencies that will allow them to be productive

members of the society or pursue higher education; through coordination

between the academic and business sectors, to change industry hiring

practices into account the enhance skills and competencies of K - 12

graduates (DepEd, 2010). The goal of implementing the K - 12 Basic

Education Program is to create a functional basic system that will produce

productive and responsible citizens equipped with the essential learning

and employment. This is in line with the agenda of the President Aquino of

having quality education as a long term solution to poverty.

The K - 12 Education vision from the Department of Education

(DepEd, 2010) every graduate of the Enhanced K - 12 Basic Education

Program is an empowered individual who has learned through a program

that is rooted on sound principles and geared towards excellence.

International Conference on Education (IECO) | 487 Truly, the

implementation of K - 12 program of the Department of Education is a

great help to every students. But, some which has a noble purpose for

every Pilipino pupil or student. From their own point of view or perspective

this is another burden on the part of the students and parents. It will add to
the financial problem of the individual family, and the advantage of

implementing this program are for the people who wants to continue

studying or work abroad because the curriculum is almost parallel to

another country.

This is some of the problems that this study is going to focus on

and to hear the sentiments of the parents regarding the implementation of

K - 12 program (Jennilyn, 2013). One of the aims of the Department of

Education is to prepare the students to be globally competitive. To achieve

this, educational reforms of the government must also focus into the

mastery of English as the second language. Such attempt will greatly help

to harness the productive capacity of the country’s human resource base

towards international competitiveness. Competitiveness may be gauged

from sociolinguistic competence of a person. Sociolinguistic competence

is the ability to use language appropriate to a given communicative

context taking into account the roles of the participants, the setting and the

purpose of interaction. It is the ability to use and respond to language

appropriately, given the setting, the topic, and the relationships among the

people communicating, particularly the lingua franca of the educational

society and community, in its various contexts and dimensions relatively

guarantees the teachers competitive advantage in the complex society like

the Philippines (Alatis, 2009).

Education Secretary Armin A. Luistro (2011) says the additional 2

years will help students decide what course they will take in college. It will
also help high school students to be given a chance to specialize in

science and technology, music and arts, agriculture, fisheries, sports,

business entrepreneurship, and others. K - 12 Program aims to make

basic education sufficient enough so that anyone who graduates can be

gainfully employed and have a productive life. K –12 Program will look at

the possibility of specialized education such as a high school or

community, which will focus on the arts or agriculture. Bro. Armin said that

the proposal will make high school graduates employable, making tertiary

education International Conference on Education (IECO) | 488

unnecessary to get a job.

That proposal of Department of Education to add two more years to

basic education drew mixed reactions in the Senate. Senate President

Juan Ponce Enrile (2011) expressed support to the DepEd’s K - 12

Program as he agrees with the proposal because the country needs to

increase its competitiveness at the international level, he said: We are

underrated by other countries, our educational system. It is painful for

others. But for the country we have to do it. To implement the program,

the DepEd has to work with Congress to amend the existing law, Batas

Pambansa 232 or the “Education Act of 1982,” which states that the basic

formal education is a 10-year program.

Nartates (2011) conducted a study about the Effects of Broken

Homes among Early Teenagers to their Academic Performance this

studies cited by the researchers have also shown that the country’s
education program is equivalent to the 12-year education cycle followed

abroad except that it is being completed in only 10 years. These

researches analyze and study what will be the effects of the K - 12

Educational Systems to the country, parents, and students. This study

becomes related to my study in the sense that it is concerned on the

effects of K - 12 Program to the parents. The only difference is that this

study is focused on the effects of K - 12 Program to the students whose

parents are working abroad, and how it affects to their academic

performance.

Marston (2011) Conducted a related study about the perception of

students and parents involved in primary to secondary school transition

programs of different formats and complexities, based on both Australian

and international research, have been introduced in some schools to

facilitate transition. The aims of this research were to investigate and

compare the perceptions of students, parents and teachers involved in

several of these programs and to examine the extent to which transition

programs can alleviate issues associated with transition between primary

and secondary schools.

Zellman (2012) conducted a study about the implementation of the

K - 12 Education Reform in Qatar’s Schools, this study is a reform of

education for a new era, because it views education as the key to the

nation's economic and social progress. This study, one of a number of

RAND studies that trace and document the reform process in Qatar, was
designed to assess progress made in the first years International

Conference on Education (IECO) | 489 of the K - 12 Reform's

Implementation in Qatar's schools and the perception of the parents on

the Implementation of the K - 12 Program. This study has a relation to the

researchers study because it also gets the perception of the parents on

the K - 12 Implementation.

Senate Majority Floor Leader Vicente "Tito" Sotto (2011) explained

why he opposed the proposal of the Department of Education (DepEd) to

amend the law on the country’s basic education to increase the number of

school years to 12 from the present 10-year program. "I oppose the

addition of two years to basic education. There is no clear benefit to

adding two years to basic education," Sotto said in a privilege speech at

the Senate. He added that the national budget can't even provide

sufficient funds to maintain the present number of years of basic

education, but now the DepEd wants to add more to it. According to him,

adding two years to basic education will further increase our budget

deficit. We need quality education, not quantity of years in education. We

need more schools, not more years in school.

The Philippines is the only country in the world that still follows a

10–year basic education cycle. And so Last October 2010, President

Noynoy Aquino proposed the Kindergarten plus 12 on the K - 12 Program

to catch up with the rest of world having a 12–year basic education cycle.

However, with all the issues on education the country is still has, parents
expressed their opinions on the President Aquino’s plan of strengthening

the Philippine education system through the K -12 Program. It is a must to

hear the parents’ opinions regarding the K - 12 Program as they are one

of the stakeholders of schools and respected parents of the students who

are involved on loving and caring for the future of their children. “The

reality on the ground is that schools even have to divide their classes to

morning and afternoon sessions to accommodate more students… We

need to modernize our public school system management priority to

expanding the cycle of our basic education program”

Related Studies (Local)