More School Choice, Please

It’s the free market at work. As the teachers’ unions and the Democratic use children’s education as a negotiation point-- or should we say, an extortion point-- local governments and parents are opting out of public schools.

Paul Peterson has the story in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. He remarks that across the country many schools are still not open. Some might call it a nationwide teachers’ strike:

President Biden wants credit for opening up the nation’s schools within 100 days of taking office. Yet over a third of U.S. students still aren’t going to a classroom every day. Many urban districts open their doors only to young children or for just two days a week, and scare talk dissuades numerous parents from sending their kids.

Of course, there is no reason for the teachers’ strikes. They are merely flexing political muscle:

The failure of the public schools to educate children in the past year has angered parents and policy makers. The novel coronavirus is particularly dangerous for the elderly. It is no more risky for teachers than it is for grocery clerks and other essential workers. Serious illness is rare among children. Meanwhile, the loss of learning and social connectivity produced by school closures has been devastating, especially for low-income minority children.

We should remark, yet again, that the parents of the minority children who are suffering the most voted for the politicians who are destroying their children’s educational opportunities.

Across the country parents and local government are taking over, looking for private and charter schools:

While school districts dithered in the fall and winter, parents explored alternatives. Phones at Boston’s Catholic schools rang incessantly when public schools announced they would remain closed. Charters in South Carolina were so swamped by enrollments they required extra state funding. In New York City, long charter waiting lists grew longer. 

Nationally, according to the Census Bureau, the number of home-schoolers has doubled. District schools admit enrollments are down as much as 3%, very likely a conservative estimate. Some surveys suggest a shift of eight percentage points away from public schools.

Parents discovered school choice. State governments see the writing on the blackboard and are moving away from public education. 

Three months later, school-choice advocates have scored big victories around the country. Indiana enlarged its voucher program. Montana lifted caps on charter schools. Arkansas now offers tax-credit scholarships to low-income students. West Virginia and Kentucky have funded savings accounts that help parents pay tuition at private schools. Florida, a movement leader, has enlarged its tax-credit scholarship programs. Even Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee promises to veto a moratorium on new charter schools. As one voucher activist told me: “This feels like the most school choice legislative action in . . . years.”