TEACHERS UNIONS ARE MAKING A PROFOUNDLY STUPID MISTAKE: By effectively withholding services they are paid billions of tax dollars to deliver, they are forcing millions of Americans to discover that there are alternatives available, including one that could dramatically improve their financial situations now and their children’s prospects tomorrow.
The following is from a family member who prefers to remain private, but who is happy to share what I view as a superb summary of the situation being forced upon so many Americans by the teachers unions. He was responding after I encouraged him to read and react to the National Review piece Glenn linked earlier today:
“For context, we are definitely in the privileged group here, and I don’t mean that in the woke social justice warrior sense, but we have highly performing public schools here due in large part to being predominantly upper middle class with residents who work in the private sector. This means that while we are certainly not immune to the leftist dogma found in other places, generally speaking, our teachers are from and live in our communities where they teach, and are often two-income families with their own kids in the school system.
“That said, we are seeing a few things that lead me to believe that we are reevaluating the entire way we view the role of the government in schools. To the writer’s point, Covid19 has [forced] the frustration which has historically only been felt by those living in major cities, and especially in poor minority communities, into the suburban mainstream.
“As I type this just a few weeks from the start of public school, nearly every family we know is either struggling to make arrangements for their kids or has already decided to pull them out of public school for private or homeschool options. And to be clear about those ‘arrangements’ for the ones who have to give online public school a try, many of those parents are choosing between their jobs and childcare. They are literally having to decide which of their two jobs has the better income, healthcare benefits, schedule flexibility, etc. and leaving the other. (Emphasis added) Consider the financial and macroeconomic impact of these decisions being made all over the country, specifically in the middle class who drive our country’s GDP.
“And, for the families who either cannot leave a job or are not interested in what has been proposed by the public school systems, they are either spending tens of thousands of dollars per year on private education or are now for the first time acquainting themselves with homeschooling options. I will also add that in many cases, private schools are full and homeschooling curriculum options are sold out leaving families with no idea what they will do in a few weeks.
“Based on all of this, my prediction is that within the next six months we will see renewed calls for school choice in counties all over the country. The combination of poor choices available for those who must attend public schools with boiling frustration from those now spending tens of thousands of dollars on private school, while simultaneously continuing to pay the same amount in taxes will cause voters to demand vouchers or the outright closing of public schools all over the country, which I think ultimately will be a good thing for the country. When the general public demands that public schools compete for our tax dollars the options will get better, but it is going to be a painful bumpy road getting there.”
To which I must add: Where are the Republicans? Why aren’t they loudly and insistently responding to the plight of these millions of Americans? Why aren’t they demanding school choice now??? This could be a momentous turning point in American politics and culture, but are Republicans smart enough and courageous enough to show the needed leadership?
