The opportunity and hope for students that Illinois just crushed is being embraced nationwide as a key to thriving.
The opportunity and hope for students that Illinois just crushed is being embraced nationwide as a key to thriving.
T housands of families finally found a school that worked for their kids. In Illinois, nearly 10,000 low-income, mostly black and Hispanic children, along with over 1,000 underprivileged Jewish children, among others, are dependent on the state’s tax-credit scholarship school-choice program, Invest in Kids, to attend a well-performing school. Governor J. B. Pritzker said he would defend the program. Instead, this month, the legislature voted to kill it, and Pritzker did nothing to stop it. Now, most of these families will have no choice but to send their kids to their mostly low-performing assigned schools.
In Chicago, test scores are abysmal. A mere 20 percent of students are reading at a grade level, and just 15 percent are proficient in math. Among eighth graders, black and Hispanic students had test scores averaging 16 and 30 points lower than white students’. And the education crisis being faced in America’s urban cores is not limited to Chicago. Last year, in 23 Baltimore public schools, not one student was proficient in math. In the same year, in Providence, less than 12 and 14 percent of public-school students were proficient in math and reading. One of America’s greatest founding promises is that of equal opportunity, and today, our education system is making the climb to prosperity too difficult for far too many Americans.
The Declaration of Independence declared, for the first time, that all men are created equal and have a fundamental right to the pursuit of happiness. This is the earliest vision for the American Dream, and at its core is equality of opportunity. Since its inception, America has made great strides to fully live up to these ideals, and great strides it has made. At the same time, in far too many states, cities, and towns, it is falling gravely short. To fully live up to its founding ideals, America must embrace education freedom.
The beauty of the American Dream is that it puts the individual in the driver’s seat — it is rooted in the idea that one can come from any background and, with hard work and determination, achieve the success they set their mind to, whatever that success may look like. America’s free-enterprise system — like no other system in history — is what brought this dream to life and what keeps it alive. Economic freedom harnesses the power of the human spirit like no other. But to live and thrive in a democratic, free-market society, one must understand how to participate in it.
Access to a quality education is essential to making this possible, and in the education system’s present, mostly monopolistic state, too many kids are not receiving the education they deserve.
Our greatest strides for civil rights and empowerment have come not from a deviation from America’s founding ideals but from further extending those ideals to all Americans. The formula for a more just education system is no different.
Several states are finally embracing education freedom. As of today, ten states now have universal or near-universal school-choice programs (Indiana’s program is just 3 percent away from universality) — eight of those programs were passed this year alone. At historic speed, this is introducing unprecedented levels of new educational opportunities.
Millions of new families who previously could not afford it will now have access to options in the education of their children. Those families with kids in schools that are not a fit for them will finally be able to find a better-fitting school. This is progress.
Still, most states and cities remain at the status quo. In the case of Illinois, they’ve taken it a step even further, with lawmakers actively taking regressive steps to reverse educational progress. In these places, families who can afford private school or a home in a higher-performing public school district have school choice. For those families who cannot afford either, the school assigned to them is the only option. This leaves many kids, particularly those in low-income families in America’s urban cores, at a great disadvantage.
In too many of America’s cities, the status quo is both unacceptable and unsustainable. Much of the next generation is not being prepared for the future. Families deserve a choice in their education regardless of income, and it is something most families are supportive of.
Polling shows widespread support for choice across political identifications — with 72 and 76 percent of parents identifying as Democrat and Republican supportive of education savings accounts, according to an October Morning Consult/EdChoice poll. The same poll indicates 75 percent support among urban parents and 65 and 67 percent support among black and Hispanic parents. This highlights a deep disconnect between lawmakers representing urban areas and their constituents. They ought to put those constituents before special interests.
It is true that in most urban centers, where far too many students are being underserved, there is a severe lack of educational choice. Nevertheless, there is reason to be optimistic about the future of education in America. All ten states enacting universal choice did so in the last three years — that is unprecedented speed for such a fundamental policy shift. There is no denying that this is a movement and that parent advocates are a force to be reckoned with.
If America is to live up to its founding ideals, it must embrace education freedom so that all Americans from all walks of life have a chance at the American Dream. As it has throughout history, today, it is making great strides toward achieving that. And the fight must go on until every family has access to the quality education they deserve.