An Easter proposal for Gov. Tim Walz
In the spirit of Easter, we have a proposal for Gov. Tim Walz.
Dear Gov. Walz:
Your budget proposal includes the complete elimination of aid for non-public schools. For fifty years Minnesota has been supporting non-public schools and the students who attend them with a very modest reimbursement for basic services. The most common service amounts to a ride to school on one of those big yellow buses. This is a very cynical budget cut. You know Republicans will stand up for private schools and students, so you’ll extract a heavy price from them at the bargaining table. Our colleague Catrin Wigfall has written extensively about your cut to non-public schools here.
In the spirit of Easter, we accept this cut to non-public schools. No more bus rides. No more counseling services. No more textbooks. On one condition: you agree to sign into law our $7K for Kids proposal that gives parents control of a $7,000 Education Savings Account (ESA) for each of their children every year. With parental choice through ESAs, Minnesota families can use the basic funds allocated by the state to customize their child’s unique educational needs — from tuition at any private school to homeschooling. And for your supporters in the teachers’ union who say, “There are no private school options in our small towns,” just think of the new school ideas that could be hatched by parents and teachers knowing a $7,000 ESA was at their disposal. Read all about $7K for Kids here.
If parents at Minnesota non-public schools (and homeschools) had access to a $7,000 ESA for each child, each year, private schools would flourish, and they wouldn’t even miss the non-public school aid. The healthy competition would raise the standard of teaching and learning in the public schools as well. A win-win for everyone, especially for a governor whose number one goal is to make Minnesota “the best state in the country for kids.”
Anyone paying attention knows Minnesota has lost all bragging rights about the quality of our K-12 schools. We’ve tried open enrollment, PSEO, charter schools, tax credits and deductions, small class sizes, literacy programs, and the new math. And of course, we’ve tried your favorite solution: more money! Nothing has worked to improve test scores or close the achievement gap.
It’s time for real school choice in Minnesota. Please accept our proposal.
With hope on this Easter Sunday,
Your friends at Center of the American Experiment