Why are Democrats and their teachers union masters trying to shoot down parental choice in education even when we now have so many examples of these programs working?
Choice and competition are two of the hallmarks of the American economy. When stores compete, customers win. Turns out this is also true for schools. That’s an inviolable law of economics. A corollary is that monopolies tend to put customers last.
This is all happening at a time when public monopoly schools are showing flat or negative performance despite more funding than ever before.
This is one reason why so many states are turning to the new model of school choice, with public funds going to scholarships and charter schools, and tax incentives for charitable donations to private and Catholic schools.
About 23 mostly red states are experimenting with such programs, and so far the results in test scores and parental satisfaction are mostly positive.
Today about 1.5 million kids are taking advantage of these programs. In Florida, the biggest program of all, with more than 1 million kids enrolled in these school choice voucher programs, the kids are racking up better test scores than their peers in the public schools. This is incentivizing public schools to up THEIR game.
That’s the idea. But Democrats, acting as if school choice is the bubonic plague, are trying to shoot it down across the country.
No one has been more of a disappointment than Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, whose 2027 budget would slash $500 million from charter schools and gut education tax credits.
This could put 30,000 kids at risk of losing their scholarships. Already there are about 70,000 kids who want to go to a private school, but the scholarship money isn’t available because of program caps. Once again, a prominent Democrat places the unions ahead of the kids.
Then there is Arizona: Dems and teachers unions have put an initiative on the November ballot to roll back one of the nation’s largest school voucher programs, which has exploded to more than 100,000 students. Parents can get $7,000 per student to use for private and charter school tuition and homeschooling.
Even worse is the Florida Education Association, which has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state’s school choice and charter school programs, which provide education for 1.4 million kids. The Florida Constitution guarantees a “uniform” system of free public schools but does not prohibit the legislature from expanding educational options beyond the traditional public school model.
In Rhode Island, Democratic Gov. Dan McKee wants to cap funding for popular charter schools even as the school budgets expand.
Why the barriers to these educational opportunities?
Let me be loud and clear on this point: The Dems and their union puppet masters don’t want to get rid of these programs because they are failing the kids. They want to abolish them because they are getting better results than the public schools. Florida’s public charter sector maintains an aggregate grade of “A,” outperforming traditional public school counterparts in 55 of 77 metrics.
Maybe the unions define a “uniform education system” as one that is uniformly bad.
What is sad is that even with a robust school choice program, probably two of three kids will still be enrolled in public schools for the foreseeable future. But with alternatives, school boards, teachers and principals will have to prove their value to the customers — the parents.
Even worse is that kids already attending charter, Catholic or special ed schools may have to return to the very classrooms that didn’t work for them in the first place.
It used to be that unions could claim to parents that alternative schools would be WORSE for their children. But that’s proven not to be the case for these new private choice schools. I know firsthand that in private schools, kids are challenged, disciplined and taught to learn that failure is not an option. In public school, you get kicked into the next grade through social promotion, and the learning deficits are allowed to linger.
The Trump tax cuts will allow potentially millions of disadvantaged kids to get scholarships from tax filers who put money in the schools. It costs the states NOTHING to allow kids into the program. Amazingly, more than half the states with Democratic governors are passing up the FREE money to the parents in their states.
That’s just plain dumb. Maybe these politicians and school administrators have had too much social promotion.
Stephen Moore is a former Trump senior economic adviser and the cofounder of Unleash Prosperity, which advocates for education freedom for all children.
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They.are against school.choice bacause the socialists can’t indoctrinate our children unless they are in the public school system.
Is it any wonder that parents want a choice that helps their children succeed? Public schools are another example of throwing tax payers money down the drain for inferior results at the highest cost. Their dismal scholastic performance report gets a “F”, and it’s obvious they are threatened by other choices that are successful, results be damned.
Private and charter schools educate – Public schools indoctrinate.
Of course they are declaring war. After 50 years of unfettered ability to indoctrinate children into the Communist Progressive Left Marxist ideology from K-12 and beyond they are losing a great resource to control the masses. America must fight to take away this control.
These people are opposed to liberty in any form. Just listen to them. Dictators, despots and tyrants all. History shows that the only way to get rid of them is death, otherwise, like a bad penny, they just keep coming back.
Democrats have declared war on anything that makes sense. And specifically they have declared war on everything God says in the Bible. You know they are truly the party of Satan.
It may be more sinister than just retaining jobs in the public sector but rather a way to propagate socialism throughout the population.
Well written, Stephen Moore! The last 2 paragraphs are on target. Socialism does NOT work, it will NEVER work, and ‘Murica should get over its fascination with socialism NOW!
Said the grouchy ol’ man to young voters, who apparently know nothing about how the world/finances really works….
Alas and alack.
Unions are a scourge to our society. They are self serving, they assume every teacher has the same talent, so no incentive to be a better worker, since they get paid the same. They are just like communism. They should be outlawed.
The downward spiral of kids being dumbed down in the union supported public schools is evident within the elected officials of the Democratic party. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Eric Swalwell, Pete Buttigieg, Ilhan Omar, Adam Schiff, and newcomers, Zohran Mamdani, Janeese Lewis George, Katie Wilson, and Graham Platner are all low I.Q. uneducated individuals. Isn’t it obvious? Democrats oppose school choice because they are trying to dumb down the system. They don’t want any future elections being won by candidates they choose to run who are smarter than they are.
Some of it is greed. In NYS the public schools get state funding for each student for every day of attendance. More students equals more money for the school to waste. Waste because they spend it on more administrative garbage than any school needs. The administrator has a secretary, who has a secretary, who has assistants, for one example. Teachers can’t handle more than 19 children in their classes, and yet the students are not as well educated as students from the 60’s and very early 70’s, when we had 30, or more students in a class.
The public system does not have tolerance for students who thrive on a different learning plan than the one thought to be the only one in which students should be able to thrive. Students who thrive with a different learning plan are labeled, and considered to be less intelligent than those who fit into the established learning plan.
NYS also has a board of regents who have made it so that those who don’t take regents classes do not get High School Diploma, but only a certificate that says they did all the years of school, and passed their classes. Yes, other schools, besides the public systems are needed.
If the Unions wouldn’t allow liberal indoctrination, there would not be a need for school choice.
Guess they don’t like it when parents can send their children to schools where DEI, Sexual orientation and hate for the U.S. is not at the top of the education list!! Our Governor Katie Hobbs has been trying to get rid of school choice ever since she took office. So far, there have been enough Republicans to vote to save it. I hope more and more people see how dangerous it is to send their kids to public schools. It has been a large factor in our young people being radical liberals who hate America. It is sickening.
Simple answer is that Democrats see this as taking away their CONTROL. Anything or anyone who threatens what they perceive as theirs to control, they will scream and rant to the high Heavens against it. Exactly the reason they so favor Socialism. It is all about the need to control others.
I’d say follow the money first; then follow the rationale as they must want to encourage lower scores and intelligence so they, the upcoming generations can be manipulated more easily to go along with their demise evidenced through socialism and communism – you need ignorant/stupid people to fall for that mess so this plays into that game plan.
ever since the gov started funding schools they have been indoctrinating children why do you think all of the hatred for America came from and it has been going on since the forties they want a world gov run by communists when gov runs out of money and stuff to give away the whole thing will collapse you will have rioting in the streets and caos that is our near future thank you scumbag politicians TRAITORS ALL they are not scared of us because the elections are rigged for over a hundred years
This is an example of the bureaucracy ignoring the people who they are supposed to represent. Those in office are serving themselves and friends while ignoring the will of the people, despite the data that supports school choice. Maybe the bureaucracy should spend their time and resources finding ways to improve the education that they are supposed to provide.
The dumbing down of our kids has always been a plank in the democrats platform. That way they can control the masses. Against ICE against police against the President as long as he is a republican. Every week there is an attempt on his life and that of the VP. The unions run the platforms on education. They never supported programs to keep the family unit in tact. Divide and conquer is their mantra. If Johnny can’t learn he is dependent on the govt for life to live and a voter for them. They work on the young and the old. The most vulnerable among us and successful programs of the republicans they tear down. Through the courts because the justice system in this country is politicized. We have a Congress that just spout anti republican propaganda and lies and with the MSM support they are getting away with it. We are becoming an Iran the roots of that are forming more and more every day. Look at the demonstrators it’s the young and the old. Law enforcement is either discontinued or they kill them off one by one. They will succeed unless we stop them. Question is will we?
Indoctrinate not educate. The private/christian schools know that success is measured by performance. And Home School is also the same. Parents seem to make better teachers
I know from experience that pass the student even with failing grades.
I taught in Watts LA right after the 1965 riots. Government came in with dollars,
(the easy way out) ignoring solutions requested by teachers.
Retarded DemonRats just wanting the power over the people. They are so corrupt, their feet squish like swamp crap! The American People are tired of their socialist Bullshit! They have lost control of the Corruption of the DemonRats and RINO’s! Our forefathers would have already resolved the issues!
BE AMERICAN! VOTE MAGA!
Charter schools are the model for public schools, but the regulations and rules for public schools upset the balance. Public schools must take everyone despite behavior and ability. Charter schools can expel those who cannot keep up or who are behavior problems. Charter schools can write their curriculum and many have chosen the Classic Education that we grew up on. Public schools are given to experimentation with curricula and materials and incorporate the Woke ideals that are trending to the detriment of all the students. Another thing: the unions have total control over the public schools but not private more charter. They will never give up their power and money to benefit our kids’ education. Teachers Unions may have been a good idea long ago, but currently they are as corrupt as they get.
Democracy does not work well (or at all) without an educated population. People NEED to be smart enough to intelligently evaluate the issues and stances of each candidate for election to vote intelligently. Otherwise, uneducated voters will vote for the candidate that offers the most free stuff, or the best-looking candidate, etc. We are currently witnessing the success of democratic socialist candidates due to voters in a district not being smart enough to know that many socialist countries have already failed (Cuba, Venezuela, etc.) or in the process of failing as we speak.
Home schooling and/or the best private school you can afford is the ONLY way to go. We only have a single time in our children’s lives to educate them properly… and the public “indoctrination” schools… full of left-wing political activists masquerading as teachers are NOT, NOT, NOT the answer.
When you watch those TV shows that have a “man in the street” asking the simplest of questions to random young adults (=voters) which they do not know; then you realize why stupid and abysmal people get elected to high political office.
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Public schools need to be able to compete against the private sector if they want to stay in business. This is the key to keeping government from stagnating into socialist oblivion.
Years ago, the City of Phoenix put up several of their solid waste districts for bid by private companies. At first, the city lost the bids. Eventually, we, (yes I worked there) learned how to be competitive. We won more bids than we lost.
This was all due to a Public Works Director named Ron Jensen. Ron was an adjunct professor at Arizona State University while Director in the City of Phoenix. Ron started something that still resonates in Phoenix. We need Ron Jensen’s system and foresight in public education.
Let the parents decide which is best and let the best schools win.
Well, almost. You could see this coming. Democrat teachers’ unions want the State to determine the curriculum. They want to create programs that call for more high paid do nothing administrators. They want to be the center of control and of money distribution. To the unions (and to the Dems — forgive me please for repeating myself), actually educating children is strictly incidental to these issues. If it works to keep them in power and to expand that power, they will create generations of kids who cannot read, write, perform basic math skills, and who know nothing of American history. They will manipulate them into unfulilled lives of permanent dependence on surgeries and drugs and they will actively encourage suicide. Public sector unions should be abolished.
PS They’re already figuring out that they need to unionize (by statute) charter and private schools.
Of course, this shows that teachers and socialist don’t “care for the children.” They care for supporting radical teachers who, in turn, send in campaign contributions! Over 90% for DIMMS!
I have lost all faith the Public School System (now known as Governmental Indoctrination Centers)…School Choice and Vouchers are the only hope for the minds of American Children.Send them to schools that challenge them in history, economic, and Literature, instead of the brain dead crap taught to them currently.
It’s simple – how else can they totally brainwash all our children except through the public school systems? It’s why headstart, & low income free early education were started – it’s also why our children can’t read, write, preform basic math – because the focus is training them to hate our nation & our constitution.- that & lying to them about biology… At age 70, I look back at my schooling. – I attended more years than my Father did, yet learned far less. His generation learned Latin, Shakespeare, ancient mythologies, more advanced math & the Bible. By the 1950’s most of that was gone. At least we were still taught to think for ourselves – to thirst for knowledge. Now anger & violence seem to be the main focus.
The teachers unions need to go away permanently. They serve no purpose any longer. Weiner needs to ride off into hell where she belongs.
The Democratic Party is owned by the teachers’ unions. They depend on them for money and “volunteers”. The simple truth is that in a competitive situation good schools will drive bad schools out of business and good teachers will drive bad teachers out of business. Under our current system bad teachers, bad schools, bloated bureaucracies and bad curriculum are protected.
Progressive/Socialists in control of the current Democrat Party want complete control over citizens. Organized labor Unions are also Socialist, so having a teacher’s union in effect bolsters the Progressive controlled Democrat Party. I have witnessed this control first hand having worked for and been dismissed from Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology after more than four years of being called the best instructor at the facility I taught at.
It is about time for all parents to declare war on democrats for their infringement on their rights as parents, their promotion of pedophilia and perversion, their Marxist and muslim indoctrination of our children, as well as their promotion of gender confusion, homosexuality, and the mutilation of children. The democrat party is no longer representing any of the values of the American people and needs to be banned!
Been so since Trumps first term
Follow the money!!!! Look for fraud…
Typical of all government programs. The government hates competition. If the DOE is defunded and closed this discussion would go away.
Why do we continue to talk about the Democratic Party and their allies, when we know they are our enemies! They need to be stopped at all cost!
The Teacher’s Unions are the cause of the ESA voucher system in AZ, and poor results from testing. If they want to stop this, then they should prove their ‘indoctrination’ teaching of the students provides better results, which it does not! I am fed up with the quality of our education systems nationwide and until they provide a better product, parents should be allowed to make the decision that best supports their children. I do not feel that ‘home schooling’ should be able to access these funds, unless they can show that their children meet testing requirements in Math and Reading.
The kids are graduating from high school do not how to read, nothing about government or civics, nothing about true American history and are unable to do handle math problems. I know 2 high school graduates that graduated but NEVER WENT TO HIGH SCHOOL. They graduated in the late 1990’s. What a shame.
Are We the People done listening to Democrats yet? I did about 46 years ago.
The Democrats are increasingly socialist, and school choice impairs their desire to indoctrinate our kids however they see fit. It has nothing to do with helping our kids succeed in life and everything to do with political power.
Unions and bureaucrats are the biggest core constituency of the Democrats and have been for decades. They’ve been fighting school choice and privatization since it began to grow in the 80s. If they can’t win in legislatures they will try lawfare.
When I attended K-12, from 1960 to 1972, the school curriculum was very different. We learned US History, World History, Civics, Sciences, Mathematics, and English Language and Literature. We had physical education (Gym), and most of us played sports in every season.
There wasn’t much of a deal about parental choice, since the parents were okay with the K-12 curriculum.
It is sad that parents have to fight the curriculum NOW. It indicates how radical the teachers’ curricula have become.
So the Anti-Freedom Party (AKA the Democratic Party) naturally wants to control the narratives taught in schools to be the Socialist etc. agenda they favor. They are seeing all their past victories they took for granted slowly but surely being deleted and if they actually had minds they would be losing them as we speak!
School Choice is the best thing for the children and their parents, of course, the democrats don’t want it. Also will stop democrats flow of MONEY. Sad!!
It is obvious why the pubic school unions and the Democrats are opposing school choice. When they loose kids, the can no longer indoctrinate them with communist ideals. Money has nothing to do with this conduct. This article showed that the Feds were offering free money to the blue states for school choice. The states turned it down!