They don’t trust parents
It’s National School Choice Week, but not a peep from Gov. Tim Walz or DFL legislators (that I’ve seen) acknowledging the annual nonpartisan celebration of effective K-12 education options available to and chosen by families across Minnesota and the country — from traditional public schools, public charter schools, and public magnet schools to private schools, religious schools, online schools, and homeschools.
Given Democrats’ close ties with Education Minnesota (the state teachers’ union), their opposition to expanding educational opportunity and who can access a quality education in the state is not surprising, albeit discouraging. And yet the question “why” they refuse to budge remains. Especially when choice programs in numerous other states have generated bipartisan support.
It can’t be because choice programs “drain” money from public schools, because studies show they don’t. It can’t be because choice programs don’t help students who remain in public schools, because studies show they do. It can’t be because choice programs don’t lead to higher graduation rates, because studies show they do. It can’t be because choice programs don’t have a positive effect on student attainment, because studies show they do. And it can’t be because of all those other oft-cited reasons, either.
They don’t trust parents
It must, then, come down to a matter of trust.
Nationwide, 31 states and the District of Columbia have some form of school choice. “Surely, if the dire predictions [of school choice] are true, we’d see the results in states that have empowered parents for years,” wrote Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Mandy Drogin. “But that’s simply not the case. … Parents know better — and deserve better.”
And parents can be trusted.
It’s far time for Minnesota to trust parents to make the best education choices for their children. But making those choices shouldn’t just be for the rich.
Let legislators know that you support removing financial barriers so that every Minnesota child can access an effective, challenging, and motivating education.