School choice is an issue that has been near and dear to my heart for a very long time. Back when I had my own blog and was writing just because I liked it, I was mostly focused on liberal media bias and school choice. The first political conference I ever attended was a school choice conference.
Republican candidates should focus more on school choice not only because it is the right thing to do, but also because it's a winning issue for them.
School choice activist and philanthropist Jeff Yass recently wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal that examines the differences between Donald Trump and Joe Biden on the issue. Yass begins by explaining all of the hope he had for Barack Obama and school choice. It's true, Obama did seem to be sincere about wanting to shake things up when he got into office. There's only so far a Democrat can go, which Yass finally got around to.
To understand why, consider who’s funding their campaigns: teachers unions. For unions, choice means competition, and urban public schools with low proficiency ratings can’t compete. Unions know the only way to keep their political power is to keep children trapped in failing schools. Give parents access to other educational options, and they’ll ditch the schools that take them for granted.
There you have it. Back when Yass was hoping that Obama would be the one they were waiting for (SWIDT?), I was already referring to the National Education Association as the most evil labor organization on the planet. DOCTOR Mama Jill Biden is a member of the NEA.
The President of the United States is literally in bed with a teachers' union. Not surprisingly, Yass notes that Biden is "the most anti-school-choice president in history."
Very often, the kids most in need of school choice options are found in poverty-stricken inner cities that have been under Dem control for decades. Therein lies the opportunity for Republicans to do some true minority outreach via rigorous support of school choice. More from Yass:
I was wrong to think that Democrats would support school choice to help their constituents out of poverty. Although polling consistently shows that a majority of minority parents want school choice, progressive politicians consistently oppose all such programs.
This isn't new information, by the way. School choice advocates have been trying to impress this upon the Republican Party for a very long time. It's an opportunity for true organic outreach that can make inroads into a previously unshakable Democratic constituency. We can debate why people most in need of education options keep voting for Democrats all day. Maybe it's because the Republicans haven't taken the time to present a much better option on this important issue.
People who don't have their noses buried in political news all day aren't aware that the Democrats are completely beholden to teachers' unions, and that is the reason why they're so bitterly opposed to any changes in the failed status quo. It's essential that Republicans make this clear to voters.
I'm sharing a lot of long quotes in this column, but they're important to provide the complete picture:
Which leads me to his challenger, Donald Trump. Although I spent more than $10 million opposing Mr. Trump’s primary campaign and donated to several of his opponents, this year’s presidential election is a Biden-vs.-Trump rematch. I have discussed school choice with Mr. Trump, and I’m encouraged by what he said. I’m likewise impressed by his actions to advance the cause in real time—namely, by endorsing several of the pro-school choice Republicans in Texas’s legislative primaries. If Mr. Trump uses his bully pulpit to build support for school choice across the country, as he did in Texas, I believe he’ll help improve the lives of many generations of Americans.
Trump's support of school choice isn't theoretical. He's been on board for a while. In a speech during the tumultuous summer of 2020, Trump said that "school choice is the civil rights statement of the year, of the decade, and probably beyond, because all children have to have access to quality education."
Since then, we've seen Republicans and conservatives become more active at the local level, which is critical. I've seen precious little discussion of school choice so far in this election cycle, however.
Because the Arizona Supreme Court did its job by telling legislators to do theirs, the Democrats are screaming, "ABORTION!" louder than ever. Again, they desperately need abortion to run interference for the fact that their puppet president's time in office has been an unmitigated disaster.
Now would be the perfect time for GOP candidates to pair border security with school choice and hammer on both to break through the abortion noise. Make the case that so many of the kids who survive the Dems' abortion gauntlet are then doomed to a K-12 indoctrination mill that puts them at all kinds of risk and never teaches them much that they can use.
I'm big on politicians presenting positive alternatives, rather than just saying, "We stink less than they do." This is the time for Republicans to do just that.
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