To the Editor:
The week of January 25th is National School Choice Week.
The majority of Americans believe it is immoral to force children into schools as a function of their street address.
Sure, some families can afford to send their kids to private schools. These families have real options if they are willing to pay for education twice: once through their taxes and a second time through voluntary, additional tuition payments.
Some families can home-school or participate in a cyber-charter school if a family member is available to be at home with their kids. But what about families who can’t? They don’t have options, and it’s not right.
It’s not right to force all children into a “one-size-fits-all” learning model. All children are unique. All families have their own values they wish to be respected and taught in their schools. It is literally impossible for any given school to be an ideal fit for every child.
It is also not fair to teachers to expect that they will all be successful with all children.
Yet the monopoly of public education has given us this unworkable model, where no one is really accountable, choice is limited, and innovation is stifled by a bureaucratic and administrative quagmire.
We can do better with broad-based school choice programs, which will increase competition and options for families. We should not have to settle for less.
Lois Kaneshiki
See the original publication here
