Every child in America deserves educational choice; the money must follow the child.
30th Anniversary of School Choice in America
Introduction and Universal School Choice
By: George Noga – August 1, 2021
This month is the 30th anniversary of Patrick Rooney’s founding of the school choice movement in America. In observance and celebration, we present a six-part (counting the prequel) series dissecting critical issues pertaining to educational choice. This post presents a summary of each part. First however, a few words about teachers.
This series is highly critical (perhaps even brutal) toward teachers in government schools and their unions. We unapologetically call them as we see them. Nonetheless, we are mindful many readers and/or family members teach in government schools. There are 3.5 million K-12 teachers in America; many are excellent – like those related to our readers. It would be wrong however to ascribe the problems with our schools to “just a few bad apples” when, in reality, the barrel contains mostly bad apples.
Our goal is for every child in America to receive a government voucher sufficient to attend the K-12 school chosen by his/her family – including private, public, religious, home and virtual.
30th Anniversary of School Choice – Summary
School Choice Movement in America (Prequel – July 25): This was published last week; if you missed it, please read it on our website: www.mllg.us. That post presented the history of the school choice movement in the USA and Florida. Yours truly founded the Florida movement in 1994; today, it provides educational choice scholarships each year to 103,000 children from low-income families at a cost of $700 million. I also served on a national board that started private voucher programs in 100 US cities.
School choice is the civil rights issue of our age. Forcing children of color
to attend failed government schools is the worst systemic racism extant.
Covid Unmasks Teachers Unions (Part II – August 8): The pandemic opened a window for Americans to see teachers in government schools and their unions for what they really are. Teachers shutting down schools unwittingly put support for school choice on steroids, as parents lost all faith in government schools and public sector unions.
Accountability and School Choice (Part III – August 15): We once and for all demolish the myth that private schools are not accountable. Free markets always are accountable and government accountability is an oxymoron. The most potent force on earth is a consumer armed with a free choice. Private schools are accountable through branding, franchising and social media, where even a few bad reviews can sink any business.
Shattering Myths About Teacher Pay (Part IV – August 22): This post provides compelling reasons why the shibboleth that teachers are underpaid is false. The facts show teachers are overpaid by about 15%-25%. Teacher pay should be determined by markets based on merit, not by public sector unions based on tenure.
Welcome to this Failed Government School (Part V – August 29): The not-to-be-missed finale in our series is a letter the principal of every government school should be required to send to parents of students prior to the start of each new school year.
Next on August 8th – How Covid unmasked teachers unions.
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More Liberty Less Government – mllg@cfl.rr.com – www.mllg.us
