Old Content (School Choice)

Education is extremely important. Its not just taxes that help you compete in the global marketplace. You will be bypassed if you have low-skill workers. This happened with a car plant that was planning to locate in South Carolina (bear with me I forget the details) but the workers couldn't read instruction manuals, so it would have been more expensive to train all of these workers. They then located in Canada - a less friendly tax and regulatory country. I care about education not because it is important not for altruistic purposes neccesarily, but because its good for the country, you will be dependent on those you educate when you are old.

This is why I support school vouchers. Yes, being able to get out failing schools is important, but forcing schools to compete is the biggest advantage. The fact is too many public schools are in a shambles. The way you get schools to move into action is to create a marketplace. The idea that education is too important to be part of the market is ridiculous. Like this article says, education is too important to be a monopoly. I envision public schools competing with other public schools, competing with private religious schools, with charter schools, with virtual schools, with parochial schools. If we break the monopoly, and schools need enrollment as a means of survival they will improve. In Milwaukee test scores for the public schools after the choice program was started improved.

Using the Milwaukee program as an example, their is a an enrollment cap. Last year the business community launched a tv and radio campaign to get the Governor to lift the cap. Why would the business community care? Because they want educated, high-skilled employees. There is a shortage coming out of the Milwaukee public schools.

Arguments we hear against choice are that schools will not provide special education. While I do think if you are cognitively disabled and not able to learn there is no obligation on behalf of the public to school you, this argument is nonsense. Most schools acting in the self-interest of profit will provide special ed. There is the argument that schools will deny troubled children who act out and misbehave. Again, same argument. They will still be provided for if schools are handed a voucher. We also commonly hear about how private schools are unnacountable because they don't have to be tested. Do you really think the teachers unions who argue this point care about testing students they don't teach? Why should they? They don't profit from them. The reason this argument is disingenuous is that out of all the schools who fail standardized tests, show me one principal who was fired. One administrater, one teacher for that matter. With schools competing, and parents having the option of voting with their feet, accreditation is not neccesary.

How can the Democrats claim to be the party of education? How can the teachers unions claim to have the interests of the kids in mind? They don't want to allow parents to send kids to a school of their choice, they don't want to allow you to sign your kid up to go to a virtual school, they just want to keep their monopoly safe. Not only do public schools get better with choice but they get more efficient. They roll back salaries and ridiculous benefits and give it to the kids. The Democrats are able to sound good on education by talking about more funding which forces the Republicans to look like the bad the bad guy. The Democrats and the unions are not so consistent when it comes to choice. The Democrats are so beholden to the teachers unions they can not do anything about the public school monopoly. Really talking about school choice will give the GOP the issue of education. We can take it back. We can expose the Democrats for what they are. Want to hold on to the Congress? Start talking about school choice non-stop. Not only will you do that, you could create a long term Republican majority. The Democrats are standing in the school house door just like George Wallace did. Fellow Democrat.