The School Voucher Financing System as a Means to Promote Israeli Education
This research proposes that parents be granted full freedom of choice regarding the schools their children attend. It contends that a universal voucher program is highly desirable in Israel. Such a program would allow complete separation between the financing of schools and their daily operations. Parents would receive tuition vouchers from the state, usable in any school that meets Ministry of Education (MoE) conditions and criteria.
The value of the vouchers will be differential, according to the encouragement index developed by the MoE: higher value for pupils of disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, aimed at creating an incentive for their admission at better – and hence more costly – schools. This will help to prevent segregation based on socioeconomic status and reduce regressive effects. It is important that the voucher system be universal and not confined to only one sector if it is to prevent voucher schools from becoming yet another type of segregated school designated for a particular sector.