Many would agree - especially our conservative population - that there are significant problems with public education today. Falling grades at large. Strange new classes involved in graduation requirements. Questionable general curriculum changes (I’m looking at you Common Core and CRT). Nonsensical masking/COVID rules.
Parents are no stranger to looking at how schooling is now managed and question why it’s being done that way. Not to mention the fact that, for most, “that’s not how it was done when I was in school”. Things are… Different.
But why? Why have schools slipped so much over the years? Why is the quality of American education faltering? The answer honestly lies within a lack of consumerism.
Consumerism is what drives competition. It fuels innovation. Being able to choose whether or not one spends money on a product or service means that the supplier of said product or service has to be at least comparable to other options, if not superior.
Right now, we have exactly the opposite of that. There is no real competition. The money public schools receive is almost strictly federal dollars. Federal dollars derived from taxes. It means that the public school system is fairly well guaranteed funding, even from people who don’t have skin in the game.
On top of that, we also have a requirement to involve our kids in education. Sure, there are private school options out there… But for that to work, the private school tuition has to be paid. All while still paying taxes. The public school still gets paid, despite the child not being there. Yes, yes. There is additional money for more kids enrolled. But, really, it’s not impactful enough. Take into consideration that the family using private school doesn’t get to stop paying taxes, and it’s really, super lopsided. And let’s face it, most families are not in a financial position to be able to afford tuition for a private school.
So what’s the remedy? How do we involve consumerism into public education to help spur not just a demand for quality, but a requirement for competition?
The answer is honestly quite simple: states need to open the door for school choice. Tax incentives for families that choose private schools. The ability for parents to opt for a different school location for their kid if the current school isn’t working for them. And take money away from the schools who aren’t performing well.
Some may question whether the enrollment to parochial schools should be included in the tax rebate status because of the perceived separation of church and state. This, for those who don't understand things, is a moot argument. Even if we ignore the fact that the separation of church and state doesn't mean what most people think it means, it's a fully non-issue because it is private money being used for a private purpose.
By forcing the product and service that is education to bear some level of competition would help tremendously towards resolving the ho-hum attitudes that teachers, administrators, and school boards take today. They don’t listen to parents. Why should they bother? There is literally nothing on the line if the parents don’t like the way things are done. The parents currently have too low of recourse to dictate how their children are being educated.
-Mike H
