Republicans, Now Is The Time For School Choice
Disturbing data from a state’s school system should be a political wake-up call for Republicans everywhere. Not a single student can do math on grade level in 53 different schools in Illinois. You need to hear that again. In 53 separate schools that collectively have thousands upon thousands of children in attendance, not a single child can read on grade level.
While more than half of the schools are located in Chicago, many are not. Several rural parts of the state are well represented with failing schools in seemingly normal communities.
The data from the teachers’ union-dominated state of Illinois comes as Georgia and Tennessee have begun the process of exploring school choice. Texas is well ahead of the curve with Governor Greg Abbott funding primary challengers to state Republicans who oppose the efforts.
The reason that this should be a wake-up call for Republicans to embrace school choice is simple: it’s a winning issue. As Democrats are politically and financially tied to the teachers’ unions, COVID reminded apolitical parents everywhere that teachers’ unions are there to protect the teachers, not the students.
Multiple outlets have independent data confirming the learning loss from excessive COVID restrictions still impacts students today. In states where parents had a choice to send their children to a school that prioritized attendance, the children thrived.
For decades, Republicans have accused Democrats of essentially buying votes by offering some form of government subsidies ranging from housing to healthcare to basic food stamps. The option for Republicans to offer school choice to parents is the civil rights issue of our day. Republicans have the chance to empower parents to take control of their children’s education and take swing states off the map for Democrats. Just look at Florida.
For decades, Florida was the quintessential swing state with the I-4 corridor separating the Republican north from the Democratic south. After Jeb Bush implemented school choice reforms that were expanded by Ron DeSantis, state-wide Democrats have been swept out of Florida effectively shifting the state from purple to red.
With so much irrefutable data screaming that school choice is good for children and a winning issue for Republicans, the question becomes… why are so many Republicans opposed to it? Watch:
I spent 30 years teaching in public schools and none of the teachers I ever worked with tried to indoctrinate students and everyone worked very diligently to prepare their students even though they often got zero support from parents. That said, I definitely support school choice. It’s not about giving breaks to rich parents as some reports would have you think. I was a single parent of 2 living on a teacher salary. It took years to get to the point where I took home $2000/month. I taught summer school to pay the tuition to keep my kids in parochial schools. The fear that public schools would lose all of their students is unfounded. Most kids would stay right where they are and many private schools would only accept those students who worked hard and had parental support. I pray that school choice passes. It should be about the kids and not the money.
You can hit a Republican pol in the head with a winning issue and they would not see it. They would rather spend time in committee going after Hunter Biden then go after issues everyday families care about. Never doubt their ability to ignore a winning issue.