President Trump calls school choice the civil rights issue of the decade

[PilgrimsProgress]

When minorities receive good educations they don't want to stay on the Dem welfare plantation.

[Ellwood]

[quote=Spartacus713;58405126]School choice truly is the pivotal civil rights issue of our time. For anyone who truly desires to see people in disadvantaged communities given the best possible start as far as receiving a basic education, developing skills and doing all we reasonably can to give everyone a fair shot at the American Dream, providing people the opportunity to choose where their kids go to school is truly a no-brainer.

The people blocking this are the Democrat left. Because they are control freaks, who do not care about results or how their policies destroy people's lives. The are obsessed with single-minded, centralized control, results and consequences be damned.

You are exactly right. The Democrats keep throwing money and benefits at those less fortunate instead of finding solutions. Obama was against school choice, yet he was black so no one criticized him. He had eight years and could have done a lot for those of color but instead, IMO promoted racism.

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by Spartacus713

Generations of lives have been wasted by Democrats who have championed these consistently failed policies.

Didn't you remind another poster that school funding and operation is under state and local control? Therefore, you cannot blame failed education policies solely on Democrats, and I suspect this thread was created not out of concern for the education of children, but merely to beat the anti-Democrat drum over and over again.

I couldn't tell you who on my local school board is a Democrat and who is a Republican. Most candidates will run on both tickets. The governor's seat flip flops regularly between Democrat and Republican. The state legislature has been Republican controlled for quite some time.

Same goes for Ohio, where school board elections are nonpartisan. In 1997, the Ohio Supreme Court declared the state's system of funding for public school districts was unconstitutional, and directed the state to overhaul how public schools are funded and to reduce the reliance on property taxes. The Republican leadership said it would not abide by the ruling, and 23 years later, very little has changed.

There has to be another way. There is in fact. School choice. Give them choices as to where to send their children to school, and do not put them into 12 years of academic lockdown with not even a chance to learn, develop and to grow.

So how do you propose to do this? What kids get to go where? Will kids from North Philadelphia be able to take a train over to the Main Line to attend Lower Merion's public schools, even though Philadelphia's taxes don't fund Lower Merion School District? How will you account for who gets first choice? How will charter schools be funded and administered? How will outcomes be measured? Will kids stuck in their neighborhood schools because their parents don't give a crap where they go to school be measured with the same stick as kids in more affluent districts?

What about curriculum? Should each state have one curriculum that every student participates in? How can education be equitable if teaching materials aren't equitable?

What about teachers? Will charter school teachers earn more, less, or the same as teachers in the home school district?

What about parents? What choices will they have?

Answer these questions, otherwise your premise that school choice will solve all ills is just a fart in the wind.

Originally Posted by burdell

Or should we just chalk it up as yet another the left! tirade with no basis in fact?

By George, I think you've got it.

Originally Posted by Hesychios

Our nation's informed electorate was built on public schools, they made this republic of common folks literate in an egalitarian way.

Amen to that.

I don't know what the answer is, but I know it isn't abandoning the public school system.

This is just another of many attempts to privatize everything from prisons to parking spaces and bridges and dams, air traffic control and the military and anything else they can think of of any value for skimming a profit out of that the very rich can get their hands on.

The USA wasn't built this way, there is nothing traditional or conservative about the concept, it's just an asset or process grab by rich investors with pockets full of money since getting their outsized and obscene tax breaks.

And we know how that has worked out. For-profit charter schools have a pretty bad track record.

Originally Posted by burdell

Or do they just not give a rat's patootie about the alleged "issue of the decade"?

They got their fancy educations, their children did as well. To hell with everyone else.

Originally Posted by tinytrump

Not all school boards are democratic-- this one falls on MONEY - follow the money .

Yep. Who stands to profit? Take a hard look at that. My guess is that it isn't the kids.

Originally Posted by lhpartridge

As I've said before, school choice only exists on the side of the school. For choice to truly be authentic, a high-quality neighborhood school is essential. Anything else accedes to the belief that not all children's lives matter.

I love your entire post, and owe you a rep point. But this last paragraph really hits the nail on the head.