EdChoice
Your Child Can and Should Have a Better Education
Covid brought attention to many things wrong with our country, but perhaps the most impactful was the attention online schooling brought to our increasingly bad public schools. Instead of providing the kind of education many of us Baby Boomers enjoyed, we saw children being proselytized into unthinking drones of the progressives. Math and English were minimized to provide a platform for woke objectives, such as “social justice,” DEI, sexual identity, and most objectionable, the division of students into victims and oppressors. The result is that the vast majority of children have lower scores in key areas than in prior years. Feelings are emphasized over facts.
And the pathetic educational charade observed by parents during Covid lockdowns has inspired parents to action: running for school boards, pushing for or taking advantage of ESAs, home schooling and more. The progressives claim that they care about the poor and minorities, but these were the groups experiencing the worst educational outcomes from Covid, some losing two years of their education. It should be noted that these are the same groups who lose a lot of their prior achievements during the 3-month summer “vacation.”
I think every parent would love their child to have a tailored education, designed around their interests and talents, while supporting their needs and challenges. How can you achieve that in the cookie-cutter public school system where today, teachers seem to be more focused on their own well-being and their “rights” than their responsibilities to their students? For years we’ve been trapped by the place we live into the public school nearby. Fewer than three out of 10 parents want their kids in a public school, per EdChoice research.
The World has Changed
An increasing number of mostly Red states have begun offering ESAs - education savings accounts or some other tax credit or voucher system. Options vary by state, but Arizona pioneered giving a high percentage of the annual, per-pupil public school payment to parents to fund any option they prefer, whether it is private school, charter, home- schooling or more. During Covid, some parents could opt for a variety of “escapes” from failing online schools but poor parents were trapped, often struggling to get their kids online and/or monitor their progress.
Parent demand has spawned even more options. The problem is that there are variety of challenges a new school faces. Among these are: business licenses, zoning law, funding, local regulations, teachers’ unions, accreditation, funding and marketing. And yet, you will see the following options popping up. If you don’t see what you need in your area, start your own and/or pressure your lawmakers to remove the barriers. They may be in bed with the unions but parents vote. And they know what their children need better than teachers do
Educational Options
Most of us have heard about charter and private schools as well as home-schooling. But you can also look into hybrid home-schools where students can spend time in their local schools. Magnet schools have specialized curricula such as a performing arts school. Online K12 schools have been around for more than 20 years and keep getting better. Learning pods were adopted by parents to spread the cost of school among families while keeping the personalization they desire.
Perhaps the most exciting and customized option is called micro-schooling with tiny class sizes as well as personalized educational approaches for each student. https://microschools.com/
One surprise is the wider diversity of all educational choices kids can experience outside of public schools. It goes without saying that the data shows strong positive effects in: test scores, attainment, parent satisfaction, and even in saving money. Students with vouchers or ESAs are more likely to graduate, go to college and complete their degrees. Oh, and these schools seem to be safer too. What’s not to like?
EdChoice
I was inspired to write this after hearing a talk by the EdChoice founder at FreedomFest 2024 in Vegas just a few days ago. This nonprofit has a mission to advance full and unencumbered educational choice as the best way to allow children to have a great and successful life. It was founded in 1996 by Milton and Rose D. Friedman. This group does the research and analysis to determine what works, trains people and invests in states that embrace real choice for parents. Check them out. And vote for a wider range of educational options for ALL children.
#edchoice #schoolchoice #educationspendingaccount #freedomfest