Fund the Children, Not the Schools
Why is it that moms and dads have so little control over where their kids go to school? Unless you homeschool or send your child to a private school, you’re at the mercy of the federal government and the Teachers Unions. That needs to change. Corey DeAngelis, National Director of Research at the American Federation for Children, discusses why.
PragerU is experiencing serious censorship on Big Tech platforms. Go to https://www.prageru.com/ to view our videos free from censorship!
SUBSCRIBE https://www.prageru.com/join/
Take PragerU videos with you all over you go. Download our totally free mobile app!
Download for Apple iOS ➡ https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/prageru/id1115115779
Download for Android ➡ https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cappital.prageru
To view the FACTS & SOURCES and Transcript, see: https://www.prageru.com/video/fund-the-children-not-the-schools
Join PragerU’s text list! https://optin.mobiniti.com/prageru
STORE! Love PragerU? Visit our shop today! https://shop.prageru.com/
Script:
Fund the kids, not the schools..
If ever a concept’s time has actually come, it’s this one..
What does it suggest?
It indicates parents choose where to send their kids to school, not the federal government..
A radical idea?.
Hardly..
The federal government currently provides money to university student in the form of Pell Grants. The student decides which college he or she wishes to go to, not the federal government..
The very same holds true with the GI Bill. The veteran decides which school he wishes to offer his scholarship money to, not the government.
Taxpayer-funded pre-K programs such as Head Start follow the exact same model. Moms and dads choose– not the federal government– which pre-school they desire their kid to attend..
We don’t require low-income families to spend their food stamp dollars at government-run grocery stores. They can go anywhere they desire: Walmart, Target, Safeway, or any other similar store..
The time has pertained to use the very same logic to K through 12 education. It’s tough to believe that we haven’t done it before now..
Fund the kids, not the schools..
The cash exists..
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that public schools spent about $16,000 per student in 2019. For some viewpoint, information from Private School Review shows that the average private school tuition has to do with $12,000 per student each year.
So, why is K through 12 education the outlier? As we have seen, in practically every other area of life, individuals pick how to invest their money– even when the money originates from the government..
However for some factor, moms and dads aren’t permitted to decide the best K through 12 school for their kids. Option is the norm for pre-K and higher education. Why not for K through 12?
Well, there is a factor: It threatens a special interest. A really effective one..
The instructors’ unions..
The unions argue that providing instructional funds to moms and dads “steals cash” from public schools..
However where did the idea come from that the funding “belongs” to the public schools in the first place?
That’s right: the instructors’ unions..
The fact is the reverse: public schools “take” money from households. School choice initiatives just return the money to the hands of the designated recipients of the funding– students and their parents.
Permitting families to pick their supermarket does not “steal” cash from Safeway. Enabling households to select their school doesn’t “steal” money from public schools.
Paradoxically, the argument by public school advocates that school choice would “defund” public schools is an admission of failure. Given a choice, a large number of Americans would prefer almost any other school to their local public school.
But right now, there are couple of options for moms and dads to reveal that discontentment. Homeschooling is an alternative, but lots of moms and dads think– rightly or incorrectly– that they can’t do it. A private school can be another option, however it might not be financially possible.
This gives the unions significant leverage. We saw how they use that leverage throughout the Covid crisis.
After an academic year of lockdowns, most independent schools combated to return to in-person knowing. The teachers’ unions did the reverse: they fought to avoid of the classroom..
If parents had the power to say, “Bye-bye, I’m taking my kid’s education dollars elsewhere,” the scenario would have been much various. The teachers’ unions understand this, which is why they scream bloody murder each time the word “option” is even discussed.
Here’s the irony– you might even say disaster. When confronted with competitors, public schools do, in truth, up their game..
Twenty-five of 27 research studies– and the current peer-reviewed meta-analysis on the subject– discover that independent school choice competitors leads to much better outcomes in public schools..
For the total script, see: https://www.prageru.com/video/fund-the-children-not-the-schools.
source
Why is it that parents have so little control over where their kids go to school? Unless you homeschool or send your child to a personal school, you’re at the grace of the government and the Teachers Unions. For some factor, moms and dads aren’t permitted to decide the finest K through 12 school for their kids. Right now, there are few choices for parents to reveal that discontentment. A private school can be another option, but it might not be economically possible.
