School Choice

A no brainer for Conservatives. Right?

We love neat little boxes. Easy answers. Slam dunk issues. This means that often, we cram complex issues into those boxes rather than give them our brain power.

Unfortunately, school system reform doesn’t know the meaning of easy and neat.  But for the sake of this discussion, why don’t we say the clock is ticking. I have five seconds to make the final call. School choice, yea or nay?

Hesitantly, I’m a yea. After hours of reading/listening to commentary from folks who are all over the spectrum, I’ll tell you how I got there.

It’s only fair to begin with my personal bias disclaimer. The traditional school system was founded by socialists who had a goal of creating obedient worker bees for America. This is fact, not opinion. Research New Harmony, a Communist compound in Indiana, then head straight on to Socialist Horace Mann. This article will get you started. That being said, I am personally opposed to this schooling method, on its face, regardless of who is teaching, what they’re teaching, and how they’re teaching it, because of the underlying purpose. That’s a story for another day.

However, not typically being a “burn it all to the ground” sort of girl, nor thinking that it is practical at the moment due to all of the societal change needed to make that happen, I’m open to chatting about reform.

So what is school choice? Well, it’s what we used to have before the public school system. There were local schools in many forms, run by churches and entrepreneurs, as well as the most common form of school, homeschooling. Today, it means that public education funds can follow students to the schools or services that best fit their needs. This includes public school, private school, charter school, home school or any other learning environment families choose. 

Essentially, it’s Capitalism for the school sector. Over half of US States already have some form of these programs in place, to varying degrees. Wisconsin created the first voucher system back in 1991, so this isn’t exactly new.

Nuance is a difficult thing to capture. I’ll try my best, but first, let’s put the simple talking point arguments from those for and against on the table.

First up, the Left’s two arguments against school choice.

1. It’s racist. But of course. Suzanne Bonamici, a Democrat from Oregon recently explained, “The history of school voucher programs is engaged, ingrained in an act of resistance to integration from white families across the south.”

2. It drains resources from already struggling public schools.

Those in favor of school choice, typically Republicans make the following points.

1. Creates competition. Public schools will have to live up to a higher standard to keep their funding.

2. Puts power back in the hands of parents, who couldn’t otherwise afford an option aside from public education.

There is, however, a Conservative opposition movement as well. This is their argument.

1. Once the government is funding something, they can tell you what to do with the money.

Those are the talking points. But what doesn’t appear in those lists but factors in? Teachers unions. Accreditation organizations that control private schools. The Department of Education. The fact that the government already funds private schools, and regulates homeschool.

Wait. What? I promise you that I do not enjoy popping bubbles, but it does seem to have become a part of my personality these days.

1. The government is already funding Catholic schools. Heck, they’re funding the Catholic CHURCH. (Do a search for how much the USCCB gets per year through grants. In my humble opinion, it explains a lot of their decisions.)

2. If you think they’re just now trying to play parent…well it started long before school choice or vouchers were part of the conversation. In 1922 in Oregon private education was outlawed. Thankfully, the Supreme Court overturned that decision in 1925 noting, “The child is not the mere creature of the state.” (Case = Pierce v Society of Sisters)

3. The government has already regulated homeschooling by state. To be realistic, we need to realize that they could shut it down any time they want. (This is why local elections matter. We choose people who have our best interests in mind. Will someone please make sure this ends up on my grave stone? Catholics must be involved in politics because politics = affairs of the city/state. And WE are what makes up the city/state. Ok that’s clunky for a headstone. But seriously. Catholics. Start caring please and thank you!)

I’ve heard a few ideas thrown out there, that could possibly help school choice be effective without the downside of excess control.

1. Shut down the Department of Education (gasp.) From my mouth to God’s ear please. It’s a bureaucratic agency that is not elected by us, and they serve no good purpose except to add red tape. Bye.

2. Corey Deangelis, a huge proponent of school choice wrote this article, with an interesting proposal about private donations.

3. Eliminate teachers unions (gasp again.) They simply create more red tape. More money tied up in political figures.

Look, I do not take government control lightly. But through researching this, I’ve also learned that the private accreditation organizations already hold most private schools hostage. They are what teachers unions are to public schools. So how can I be a yea? I did say hesitantly, remember ;)

As Corey DeAngelis noted, we can’t let perfect be the enemy of the good. Overall, school choice seems to be a step forward, despite the flaws. He also shared a good reminder for all arenas…actually read the bill. For instance, AZ put some very strict requirements on what their government can and cannot do. Not all school choice is created equal. Again, a hesitant yea.

Here is a map where you can go check out the school choice laws in your state, if they exist. In Ohio, a sweeping reform was just passed through a biennial budget bill. School choice wasn’t the only change made. Here is the rundown:

1. Historically, Ohio has had an ineffective nineteen-member State Board of Education. Eleven members have been elected from broad regional districts added to eight appointees of the governor. To address their lack of clear direction, the bill puts the agency—and its chief—under the direct oversight of the governor, rather than the state board, who will largely be relegated to handling matters of licensure.

2. The governor is requiring all schools to follow the science of reading—an approach that emphasizes phonics and other key elements of effective reading instruction— IMAGINE THAT.

3. $300 million over the biennium will would support the expansion of Career Technical Education programming in in-demand career fields.

4. The budget bill pared down some of the licensing requirements to make it easier to recruit and retain teachers.

5. Some red tape was removed as far as student transportation, to assist charter and private schools, such as allowing the use of vans.

6. The budget requires districts to report how many students participate in intradistrict open enrollment

7. Schools are required to provide parents with their child’s state exam results by the deadline of June 30th annually.

8. Increases overall K-12 spending by about 12%.

9. And the part we’ve been waiting for…any student—regardless of family income or school attended—is now eligible for EdChoice. This includes private school, homeschool, whatever the parents choose. There is an application process to receive the money.

The amount of time I could go on about schools really knows no bounds, so I’m going to save more for another time lest it take you an entire 8 hour school day JUST to read this. Leave me a comment with your thoughts!