Nancy Bailey looks at the good news for public education in the election. Reposted with permission.
Searching for hope after this election, it seems many people see through the deceptive promise of school choice. There’s danger that the new administration may ignore this, but let’s hope not.
Public schools were hardly discussed this election, and that’s a shame, because saving them is essential for our democracy. America needs a strong public school system with good school boards that reflect the concerns of Americans, where citizens come together to hash over their differences and work out their disagreements.
School choice was on the ballot for several states, a choice that would have steered public funds to private, charter, parochial, and homeschools. This would have devastated public education and set a dangerous trend for further states to follow.
The good news is that in every state where vouchers were on the ballot, Republicans and Democrats defeated them.
It’s a reminder that public schools are collectively for all America’s children. We pay taxes for those schools and they demonstrate their accountability.
While parents have the choice to not send their children to public school, it’s unfair to expect Americans to pay for charter, private, homeschools, and parochial schools which usually show little to no accountability to American taxpayers.
Since these voucher amendments failed, it appears that Americans understand this and want to focus on traditional public schools.
Here’s what we know.
In Kentucky, a red state with a popular Democratic governor who is a cheerleader for public education, we watched Amendment 2 defeated.
According to Hannah Pinski of the Louisville Courier-Journal:
Kentucky Education Association President Ed Campbell said “this victory” is important to educators and students.
“The citizens of Kentucky have made it clear that investing in our public education is a non negotiable. Investing in our local public schools is an investment in the future of our great commonwealth. Our public schools, our coalition, came together just like our public schools do in every single community all across the Commonwealth.”
In Colorado, voting results were much closer, but in the end, Democracy prevailed.
Jenny Brundin of the CPR news reports:
“We find it really encouraging that people understand what this ballot measure was really trying to do, which was to create a pathway for a private school voucher system,” said Kevin Vick, president of the Colorado Education Association. “And we’re also really encouraged that Colorado voters really value public schools and don’t want to see that happen.”
A legislative analysis concluded that the measure would have no immediate impact on education in Colorado but could have opened the door to future changes to laws and funding for education.
Vick said the vagueness of the measure would have created a “legal quagmire,” which he said, in a worst-case scenario could have meant millions of dollars taken out of the public education system.
In Nebraska, another state that has always had great pride in their great public schools, parents also defeated another voucher amendment.
Arron Sanderford of the Nebraska Examiner states:
Tim Royers, president of the Nebraska State Education Association, said he was proud to see right- and left-leaning counties agree that vouchers were the wrong choice.
“It confirms what we knew, the majority of Nebraskans don’t want public dollars going to private schools,” Royers said. “What really stood out to me is the consistency.”
So while looking for a silver lining this November may be difficult for those of us on the losing side, with the results of these voucher bills, perhaps there is some hope for Americans to come together for students and their public schools.
