While no strong evidence exists that voucher programs improve student achievement, all parties to the voucher debate at least agree that improving achievement is a desirable goal. But achievement is not the only issue in the debate. People favor or oppose vouchers in part because they hold different social and political values. 73 Jeffrey Henig sees in the struggle a conflict over the type of society Americans want to call into being.
Some observers perceive public schools to have symbolic value as a community institution.
In smaller towns, for example, the public high school s athletic teams are community institutions whose support extends beyond the school s students and alumni. In addition, the public character of the school, as expressed, for example, in its availability as a place for meetings, local theater groups, or adult-education programs, contributes to the school s value to the broader community. Private schools may have considerable symbolic value for their students, parents, and alumni, but rarely for others. By increasing the number and enrollment of private schools, while decreasing those of public schools, large-scale voucher programs would diminish the symbolic value of public schools. In so doing, they could reinforce social fragmentation of the American community along ethnic and racial lines.