School Choice and The War on Public Schools
Deets On Public Education
Public schools have been under siege ever since the Supreme Court ruled to end school segregation.
Christian nationalists orchestrated separate but equal plots under the guise of “Christian Education” and “School Choice” while slowly taking over school boards.
In reality, School Choice only siphons public tax money away from public schools - leaving parents little choice in what their taxes fund, and, in many cases, leaving charter schools as the only viable option to send their kids. A Federalist Society-sponsored United States Supreme Court ensured that parents have little choice in the schools they fund.
As of July 2022, “14% of students attended schools where almost all of the student body was of a single race/ethnicity”.
The reality is that school choice leaves students with little to no rights and minimal choice in their education if they have special needs, autism, they are LGBTQ+, or if they are a minority.
School Choice programs also result in lower test scores and foster less diversity in classrooms.
Voucher programs only hurt America’s global education rankings with a higher cost compared to other nations.
And we’ve known that School Choice would harm children since at least July 1995.
We need to hold politicians accountable who are funded by Christian megadonors to push School Choice programs despite the readily available data that these programs hurt our nation’s children - and our nation’s future.
So… Let’s move away from a failed system and start really funding public schools - starting with more federal funding for local districts.
With proper funding, we can pivot our public education system to mirror those of countries that have had proven renowned success in education, such as Finland.
Further, we need to give students an achievable goal to work towards - a free higher education system.
Forgiving student loans and making college free could be the most viable method of strengthening the middle class and reducing American poverty.
America’s education system is long overdue for change. Let’s make that change happen in such a way that will benefit all Americans.
- Deets