Ielts essay sample

 
114 
GOVERNMENT
 
 
135. Families who do not send their children to government-financed schools 
should not be required to pay taxes that support universal education. (AGREE)
Families who do not send their children to government-financed school should not be 
required to pay taxes that support universal education. 
When families send their children to non-public (that is, parochial and private) schools, 
they must pay tuition and other school expenses. Spending additional money to pay taxes 
creates an even greater financial hardship for these families. They must make sacrifices, 
trying to have enough money to pay for school in addition to other bills. For example, my 
friend Amalia is a single mother with an eight-year-old son, Andrew. Because they survive 
solely on her income, money is tight. Amalia works at least 10 hours of overtime each 
week to cover Andrew's school expenses. This gives Amalia and Andrew less time to 
spend together, and she is always so tired that she is impatient with him when they do 
have family time. Clearly, this extra expense is an unfair burden for hard-working parents 
like Amalia. 
While some people may consider parochial or private school to be a luxury, for many 
families it is essential because their community's public schools fail to meet their 
children's needs. Unfortunately, due to shrinking budgets, many schools lack well-
qualified, experienced educators. Children may be taught by someone who is not a 
certified teacher or who knows little about the subject matter. Some problems are even 
more serious. For example, the public high school in my old neighborhood/neighbourhood 
had serious safety problems, due to students bringing guns, drugs, and alcohol to school. 
After a gang-related shooting occurred at the high school, my parents felt that they had no 
choice but to enroll me in a parochial school that was known for being very safe. 
Unfortunately, even when families prefer public schools, sometimes they can't send their 
children to one. These families are burdened not only for paying expenses at another 
school, but also by being forced to pay taxes to support a public school that they do not 
use. 
(323 words)