School choice doesn’t take from public schools – it gives power and control to parents

Is it the death of public-school funding, or the end of a government monopoly on where tax dollars are spent?

To listen to critics of school choice, you would think it’s the former, a taking of money from the already “strapped” public school system that is laboring tirelessly to educate young people.

“Voucher-inspired schemes,” an inaccurate, pejorative term used by anti-school choice advocates, “rob our nation’s public schools” of “scarce funding and resources,” states a 2023 letter from the National Education Association to the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee urging legislators to oppose school choice laws.

Supporting educational choice would “erode public education, the foundation of our democracy,” the letter claims.

But in reality, school choice represents the taking back of control over where tax dollars, many of which are paid by parents, are spent.

It’s the great equalizer.

Instead of government telling you what to do with your money, school choice is the ultimate in democracy: power to the people. Instead of funding systems and programs, some of which have failed miserably for years – truthfully decades – families are receiving the freedom to do what’s best for their child’s future.

How can that be bad?

Critics fear removing students from failing public schools will make them worse, but nothing could be further from the truth. Failing schools will either adapt or die, according to the forces of the market. Produce results or go the way of the dinosaur, because better options exist. 

Despite decades of heavy spending on education and many policy shifts, the federal government has proven itself unable to stem the tide of falling test scores and subpar student performance. Especially those in urban and poor areas are consistently plagued with underperformance and a host of safety and other issues. 

Learning is far from the priority – survival is – but how long are we to keep a system that’s on life-support? 

Rather than throwing more money at the problem (teachers’ unions will always say they need more money), it’s time for a revolution. School choice is that “shot heard around the world,” a Declaration of Independence from a system, and a government, that no longer serves its constituency and is increasingly hostile to those who want traditional values affirmed and advanced – and a say in their child’s wellbeing. 

Teachers’ unions and the education system in general have become something their founders never intended: bloated, entitled and entrenched, a behemoth that refuses to be tamed. And they are a tail that wags the dog of state and local governments, consuming the majority of taxes yet failing to produce proportionate results.  

There is a way to stem the tide, but it won’t come through tweaks and program changes. Most of that has been tried before. States have even tried charter schools to mimic private schools, which produce superior results with lower budgets thanks to parental involvement, less red tape and the absence of union dictates.  

Charter schools have yielded some success, but the overall public school system isn’t reformed. COVID demonstrated just how dark the system really is, with entitled teachers and administrators keeping schools closed for months after private schools had quickly reopened, serving their own needs above those of children and families. 

Add to that the current anti-parent sentiment and rules surrounding gender and transgenderism, and it’s no wonder common-sense families are leaving the system. 

Private schools are exploding in terms of enrollment and the number of new schools starting. They are a haven for good academics and traditional values, things our country could use more of. States with school choice programs empower parents to pick the education that is right for their child, irrespective of location, denomination or other factors.  

Inflation continues to rise, and taxes show no signs of going down. As people surrender more and more of their income to the government, do they not have a right to get something in return? 

With school choice, that return is clear: the ability to see their child educated as they see fit. This leads to happier parents, happier schools (everyone is a willing participant) and government funds back where they belong – serving the people, not teachers’ unions.  

As we enter the mid-2020s and more states consider and pass school choice laws, let this be the decade where trust in government is restored – not because the government has “figured things out,” but because it’s empowered its citizens to do what is right for them. 

That sounds like the spirit of representational government, ensuring the freedom to pursue life, liberty and happiness. 

There’s nothing more American than that!