Red states are fueling a public school exodus 

A new spirit of secession is tearing our country apart. Republicans are building a coalition of red states that can impose their own laws and social mores against the national majority.

To take the most obvious example, Americans strongly oppose Prohibition of abortion.it doesn’t stop 21 states controlled by Republicans No law can be passed that prohibits abortion or severely restricts abortion.

Now, red states are applying this twist to John Calhoun’s theory of states’ rights. simultaneous majority For education.

“The school choice movement continues to win dramatic victories in states across the country, and this year was especially strong in the former Confederacy.” be overjoyed said Michael Petrilli of the conservative Fordham Institute.

Eleven states have recently passed laws providing public subsidies for private schools, usually in the form of vouchers, education savings accounts, or tuition tax credits. universal or nearly universal.

It’s a radical move for Republicans, who have justified voucher proposals as expanding school options for disadvantaged families whose children are trapped in low-quality public schools.

Republican state leaders now declare their goal is “educational freedom” for all families, which many have long suspected was their goal. It is a solemn euphemism for the privatization of education.

Conservatives argue that tuition assistance programs or “scholarships” that give parents a financial incentive to send their children to private schools save money when per-pupil costs are lower than public school spending. There is.

Perhaps, but the new law will allow hundreds of thousands of parents whose children already attend private schools to receive generous subsidies. alabama state, $7,000 per year. It’s a sweet deal for them, but not for working families who pay higher taxes because Republicans want to provide another windfall to wealthy families who can afford private schools.

Petrilli Note Some states have sought to avoid taxpayer backlash by targeting low-income households (Georgia) or using sliding scales to reduce benefits to the wealthy (Ohio). There is.

However, American voters appear to be concerned about government support for private schools in principle. A public opinion poll conducted last fall by my organization, the Progressive Policy Institute, found the following: only 34 percent A higher percentage of working-class voters without a college degree support public funding of private school vouchers, but 60% want their tax dollars to go only to public schools. .

a Battleground state survey The Democratic Party for Education Reform poll showed similar results, with 68 percent of voters choosing “more options for families within the public school system” over vouchers.

Why are Republicans brazenly choosing to use taxpayer dollars to fund a mass exodus from public schools? The main reason is the long-term pandemic-induced pandemic, often at the behest of teachers’ unions. The public’s anger over school closures persists, and children are falling far behind in their studies.

Many parents in the United States also feel like they don’t have a voice in how schools are run and what their children are taught in school. Conservative parents are particularly incensed by progressive attempts to indoctrinate their children with “woke” orthodoxy regarding race and gender.

The right is also trying to fill the political vacuum created by Democrats’ reckless abandonment of public school reform and modernization. Under Mr. Clinton and Mr. Obama, the party led the fight to expand public school choice and raise academic standards.

According to Bellwether co-founder Andy Rotheram, from 1992 to around 2016, students in the United States Steady improvement in reading and math skills And the achievement gap has narrowed.

That progress plateaued during the years of the Trump administration and declined sharply during the pandemic. Around the same time, the Democratic Party moved to the left under pressure from young progressives eager to remake the world and impatient with the mundane task of fixing failing schools.

Social justice activists have found that “structural racism” is a better explanation for persistent achievement gaps than the poor quality of public schools in poor neighborhoods. In a climate of promoting progressive virtue, changing the name of the school took precedence over improving the school.

Unfortunately, the Biden administration is taking its education policy cues from teachers unions, which myopically defend the K-12 status quo. Unions are concerned about competition from public charter schools. Outperform district-run schools Educating low-income students and closing the achievement gap.

The Democratic Party’s retreat on public school choice and accountability has not gone unnoticed by the majority of voters. believe Public education is heading in the wrong direction.

The party has lost a significant historical advantage in education and is trailing Republicans in some polls. But we could take it back by accelerating today’s glacial pace of evolution in K-12 schools.

America is slowly moving towards post-bureaucratic model For public education better suited to the digital age. Democrats could step on the gas by eliminating state caps on public charter schools to give parents more choice. Move decisions from central school districts to autonomous school leaders. Adopt rigorous world-class standards for core competencies. Close schools that expose high school students to the world of work and regularly fail students.

Republicans are no longer hiding their intentions to privatize education. This is exactly the wrong recipe for bridging America’s deep political and cultural divides. The Republican primary and secondary education market will certainly be stratified as wealthy families replenish vouchers to send their children to the most exclusive private schools.

It is hard to imagine a better formula for perpetuating class privilege and entrenching inequality of opportunity. Or for red and blue America moving away and exacerbating national discord.

By reforming America’s public schools, Democrats can also reaffirm their historic role in fostering civic unity and developing democratic citizens.

The important mission of public education, according to Al Shanker, the legendary head of the American Federation of Teachers, is that: is to do “Teach your children what it means to be an American.”

That is not a job that can be outsourced to private schools or the marketplace.

Will Marshall is the founder and president of the Progressive Policy Institute.