Posted by
JayPeriod on Friday, July 20, 2007 8:05:41 PM
Every year, about this time, I begin to lament the idea of choice. Of course there are some in this country who are dead set against choice. They feel that the government is better suited to make the decision than parents, so they fight like a rabid dog to keep it from us.
Of course the choice I'm talking about is school choice.
Our family decided to homeschool for the first seven years of our daughter's life, until finances dictated that my wife go back to work. We are actively seeking a solution which will allow her to resume homeschooling. As a result of our choice to homeschool, our daughter was far and away both her teacher's favorite students and brightest. He was also impressed with our extreme interest in her education while in his class.
We happen to be lucky, I suppose, our local school is good quality (for public school, anyways). The students seem for the most part well behaved and the teachers tell us the most of the parents are actively involved in their children's education. Of the three teachers we have met and had a conversation with, they were dedicated, caring people. They responded to our concerns and requests.
Unfortunately, for some, this is just not the case. Every week I read stories in the news of teachers sexually abusing students, school curriculum which teaches the depravity of the left, schools hiding from parents what their children are being taught, and so forth. I dread the day those issues come to our local school.
All the while that these issues are present in our public schools, grades, test scores and graduation rates keep falling. The government still hasn't figured out that money won't solve every issue. There is no substitute for caring parents, strict discipline and challenging workloads. Our children are just not getting this from government schools.
They are getting them, though, from private schools and homeschools. Children who attend these two alternate forms of education regularly do far better on college entrance exams and are far better prepared for college than public schooled children. Trust me, I work with college students; they are ill prepared for the stresses of college coming out of public schools.
The best answer to this problem is competition. In the business world, competition guarantees the public that they are getting the best product for their money. In our neighborhood, two new grocery stores recently opened in close proximity to each other and one established store. The price war began, and now we can get better prices and customer service.
If public schools had to compete for OUR dollars, rather than being guaranteed them, maybe reading and math would be more important than they currently are. There would be no time for assemblies where porn stars teach the "virtues" of "safe sex".
Of course, those who would benefit the most from this would be the inner city children. You know, the ones the Democrats claim to be the salvation of. These children are forced to attend schools that continually fail them, and there is nothing they can do about it. If they were allowed to take their tax dollars and spend them on a quality education, how much better would our country be?
In closing, I know of that which I speak. The job my wife went back to was as a teacher. She taught in the public school system for four years before our daughter was born, and went back to it last year. We see first hand the problems, from the inside. And, believe me, things have gotten a lot worse in the twelve years she was away from it. "No Child Left Behind" (or as I like to call it, "Every Child Left Behind") has made public schools no better than they were before. No government program can.
So, let's proudly proclaim our "Pro-Choice", school choice, stance. The Democrats claim that Conservatives scream to protect the unborn, but do nothing for them after they arrive. Since we want to offer them the best education available, I say we are more compassionate and concerned.