School Choice: Elections have consequences | Opinion
I love choice. Who doesn’t? I like to choose my restaurant, knowing that whatever I choose has been inspected and certified safe. I like to choose my gas station, knowing the pumps have been inspected and certified for accurate weights and measurements. I like to choose my airline, knowing the pilots are trained with the expertise to keep me safe.
For years, Florida’s Republican leaders have been on a path to move public education into a full-choice system where parents can choose either traditional neighborhood schools, charter schools, private schools, or home schooling. But unlike other choices mentioned above, many of these alternative school systems have no oversight or accountability. Parent-choice has become a free-for-all. And this is unfair to children as well as to society at large.
A July 19 column from Skylar Zander, Florida State Director for Americans for Prosperity, promoted the expansion of universal ESA’s (Education Savings Accounts) where every parent gets an account to spend wherever they choose. This system is already underway and growing through the state’s voucher program that provides “scholarships” for private school tuition at religious schools, tutoring, and home schooling.
With the dawn of the Industrial Age in the 1890’s, America established a universal public education system to assure that all children would receive a basic education. This was a covenant with the American people that their tax dollars would support a system with professional oversight, certified teachers, research-based curricula, along with accountability for academic achievement. One important component was that this public system would be non-sectarian, free from religion as noted in the Constitution’s separation of church and state.
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In 2022 as we move deeper into the Information Age, children’s education should become more rigorous as they become adults in a high-tech world of virtual reality. Yet elected leaders and their allies are promoting a completely unregulated system which will use public funds with little or no accountability. This is unfair to children and our entire society. We are entering dangerous territory, like the years before universal public education where some students attended private schools with high standards, while most were left behind in a cottage industry of home schools or religious schools.
The proposed universal ESA system encourages grifters and hucksters eyeing profits over kids. Vendors will have free range to advertise their wares to unsuspecting parents, offering free computers and other benefits for choosing their “easy learning system”.
Our children need their parents to make informed choices. As you choose how to cast your precious vote, please consider the future of public education. Where does the candidate stand on school choice, and are they willing to insist on standards and accountability for where your tax dollars are spent?
Sally Butzin is a community volunteer and child advocate. She is immediate past president of the League of Women Voters of Tallahassee.
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: School Choice: Elections have consequences | Opinion
