There are a lot of topics we can talk about with this election; COVID-19, climate change, economy, big tech censorship/monopoly, women’s rights, racism, corruption, riots, and foreign relations to name just a few. These are important topics and should all be discussed, but there is one topic coming in under the radar. It is not talked about very often, but it’s becoming more and more important. That topic is …………………………. education and, more specifically, school choice!
I don’t think I would be saying this if COVID-19 didn’t completely change the landscape around education. For my wife and I, it is always a hot topic because we chose to homeschool long before COVID-19. With the recent shift to virtual and hybrid schooling, the method by which our country’s children are educated has come to the forefront of more minds, whether it be parents, grandparents, or any other adult who is helping to navigate the changing landscape of education. This new hybrid or full virtual learning doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon. Given this new focus and perspective on education, this will favor the idea of school choice. Here’s why:
- Many parents are starting to see first hand what their kids are being taught and they are not fully on board with the content/environment. This will lead to parents looking for other schools or options for their children’s education. For a lot of families, especially in lower socioeconomic neighborhoods, private education is just not in the cards given the cost. The only way for them to take part would be with some kind of school choice program that allows the government dollars to follow each child.
- More personal options!! Freedom in daily/weekly schedule, better curricula, and more class options are just a few of them. Many parents and kids will want to keep the freedoms they are experiencing with virtual learning. When you marry those options with choosing the school that is best for your child, it will level the playing field, especially for those who don’t have the means to pay for a private school or the time to schedule in homeschooling, which bring us to the third point.
- The best way to break the cycle of financial hardship and poor lifestyle patterns is with a solid education. This plays into the first item we talked about. In the hardest hit socioeconomic neighborhoods, the public education is not getting the job done well. These schools are normally among the worst when it comes to test scores, attendance, and resources. If parents had the option to choose the public education currently in place or send their child to a better school (which typically means increased chances of a better life) it is a no-brainer decision. For this reason, I think the biggest push for school choice will come out of the hardest hit socioeconomic neighborhoods. For the first time, school choice wouldn’t just benefit the middle and upper socioeconomic classes because the money currently going to public education would follow the child.
I realize there are always two sides to the argument, but I think the arguments against school choice (blog post for another day) just don’t have enough merit to hold their own, especially when you weigh them against the upsides of school choice. I would encourage you to do your own research on school choice and what each candidate believes on the matter. As the title indicates, the topic of education is very much an underrated topic in this election, but could turn out to be one of the more important topics for voters. Keep in mind the solution to most problems is almost always more freedom/choices, not the other way around.
Leave No Doubt – Think. Love. Share
