Here is an issue that I have changed my mind about as the years have passed. I used to be a strong supporter of public education. In many ways I still am, but that is tempered now. If this past week in Kingsport has driven anything home it is this….woke ideology is progressing through even conservative school systems unimpeded and at a very rapid rate. Kingsport is a predominately conservative town, but leadership in our system is moving left of center.
So on a larger scale, what does a family do if their children are in a school which if failing academically or has embraced morals that aren’t taught at home? Do they move their children to a successful academic school, or do they sit and “tough it out” while their kids fall behind academically? Do parents have to sit and watch as their kids are forced to agree to a litany of ideas (which should be left to parent discretion at home) lest they are ostracized? As a family, we have dealt with both of those questions. This is where school choice is important, and this brings us to an important question. Why is school choice important and what are the pitfalls?
In Florida, there were huge issues with school boards being to the left of the districts they represent. That became very apparent during COVID as schools couldn’t muster enough votes to re-open. So Ron Desantis(and I hope Bill Lee takes this route) began to endorse BOE candidates in order to weed-out BOE members who were saying one thing, and voting another. He has reshaped BOEs across the state of Florida. During 2022, 25 of 30 Desantis endorsed BOE candidates won. Another thing that Desantis is doing is allowing for more school choice. He is allowing students to move districts in order to get a better education in successful school districts which focus mainly on academics.
I originally didn’t support school choice. Why did I change? It was when I saw abysmal proficiency numbers in failing districts that I changed my mind. Many of those districts have a large portion of their population in poverty. Many of the best teachers aren’t teaching in those schools, and if they are, very few stay. Those kids are not only trapped in poverty, they are trapped in failing public schools. Their parents don’t have the money to send them to private schools. They have no option but to attend a school which doesn’t meet their needs. I wonder how many parents (with the choice financially to attend a private school) would leave their kids in a bad school situation? I bet not many. And I wonder how many of those same parents also reject school choice? That is kind of hypocritical, don’t you think?
Now, we arrive at my second reason for school choice being needed. Never did I think Kingsport would move to the woke side as quickly as it has. But here we are. We are now in the rebranding business. We have administrators and leadership who failed to handle a serious personnel problem, but somehow(sarcasm intended) found the strength to paint over the school logo. We have become incapable of firing failing educators, and at the same time, we have leadership who now openly harass educators who are doing the right thing – which is teaching kids. I believe that students should have a choice to exit school districts which have chosen to pair social agendas with academics. They should be able to make that move with state money in hand. If your district is woke in NE TN, it is gonna go broke if vouchers are permitted. And let me tell you, there are very few in educational leadership in Kingsport who support vouchers. I wonder why?
One could even make an argument that some in Kingsport leadership were even impeding the arrival of a private school in the area. There was consideration(and a bid) of purchasing a school property in Colonial Heights which I am sure was a veiled measure keep that property in the government’s hands and out of that private school’s hands. Fortunately, that didn’t work, or there would be no upcoming private school option. Soon, we will finally have school choice in Kingsport in the form of an affordable and large, private Christian school…I firmly believe that option will be exercised by many.
In my time as a student, I was trapped in a failing school situation twice. Both times my parents got me to a better school. One required a move to a great private school, and the other required actually moving. Those moves changed my life, and those didn’t come without great sacrifice. I was able to go to college and earn two degrees – both in education. If those moves hadn’t occurred, I wouldn’t have made it to college. If I had school choice at the time, those moves would have been much easier to make.
I do want to address this, even at the risk of making the article long. I do not believe that school choice should force private schools or home school parents (who accept voucher money) to accept state testing which is vast and excessive. We are better off without the voucher system if that is the only option. Parents should have the right to send their children to schools (or teach them at home) which support their religious and academic values without the state managing that. I know several families who use the home school option, and their families are flourishing due to that choice.
In closing, families should have the option to exit failing school districts or to leave districts in which woke ideology has permeated the system. Students should have the right to a great education which is unimpeded by various social doctrines and failing teaching practices. They should have the right to send their kids to schools which focus on academic innovation and excellence.
Pro Tip: Tolerance is the willingness to consider ideas different than one’s own. Tolerance does not mean that someone has to accept those ideas into their own belief system. Tolerance is suffering along with someone who is making bad choices in life. Tolerance does not mean that one has to accept those bad choices as good choices. I have many great friends who come from all walks of life. I met many of those friends in school. Our schools need to be places which focus on academics, and leave the social agendas at home in the domain of parents. To do otherwise is divisive, and creates strife among people which wouldn’t be there otherwise. Tolerance (or specifically the lack thereof…)is far too often used as a chilling word to silence local and national conservatives who disagree by falsely accusing them of closed mindedness.
So, it is time for something new….When a school or school system becomes divisive and/or failing, families should have the ability to leave with their educational tax dollars in hand.
