School Choice: The Inclusive Way to Educate

A Nebraska state senator recently told constituents on Facebook that if they wanted school choice they should put their kids in private school.

He’s not alone in projecting this exclusive attitude. Parents in Lincoln have repeatedly been told by supporters of the Big Learning Organization Bureaucracies (BLOB), “If you don’t like __________ [fill in the blank with ‘truancy policies,’ ‘curriculum,’ ‘excessive district testing,’ ‘Planned Parenthood speakers,’ ‘IEP methodologies,’ ‘school calendar,’ ‘elective-heavy graduation requirements,’ etc.], then send your kids to private school or homeschool them.”

In other words, “If you or your children don’t fit our mold, you’re welcome to leave” (but then you’ll have to pay for your kids’ educations on top of your property taxes).

Wait a second. Isn’t this public education? Did someone usurp the authority to say what the mold is and who fits it?

John Adams said,

“The whole people must take upon themselves the education of the whole people and be willing to bear the expenses of it. There should not be a district of one mile square, without a school in it, not founded by a charitable individual, but maintained at the public expense of the people themselves.”

Note that John Adams didn’t say that a large union-controlled bureaucracy should maintain the schools. He didn’t say that a few people could control all of the money taxpayers give toward public education. He said the people themselves should maintain the schools.

Lincoln, Nebraska, is a good-sized town with a diverse population. It’s not realistic to think that a bureaucracy like LPS can meet the needs of every K-12 student in town. There are nearly 50,000 K-12 students in Lincoln between the district students, private school students, and homeschooled students. How can a single bureaucracy effectively educate all of these children? It can’t, no matter how beneficent its intentions.

The only path to inclusive public education for all students is the school choice path. “Our way or the highway”--aside from being exclusive and presumptuous--leaves students out in the cold. That’s why we have a sizable percentage of students in Lincoln who are failing to meet basic proficiency standards. That’s why employers are complaining that young workers are coming to them without passable reading and critical thinking skills. There’s no reason for so many students to fall through the cracks—unless the BLOB is imposing on them a mold that doesn’t fit everyone.

With school choice, students can find the schools and educational resources that help them to succeed:

• Some students can go to private schools on tax credit scholarships. Some students can use vouchers to pay for homeschool curriculum.
  
  
• Some students can go to charter schools that focus on their unique educational needs and interests.
  
  
• Some students can go to local neighborhood district schools.
  
  
• Some students can receive special therapies and services through Educational Savings Accounts.
  

In the end, ALL students can achieve and thrive. With school choice, ALL students are included.

Next time a supporter of the BLOB tells you to take a hike if your child doesn’t fit the mold, remind that person that you pay the same rate of property taxes that he does. You care as much about your community as he does. And you take the inclusive route: you support school choice because all children deserve a quality education that meets their needs.

At School Choice Lincoln, all really does mean all.