Education looming large in 2022 midterms

OPINION:

The education of our nation’s children is looming larger as a public policy issue even as the 2022 midterm election cycle draws closer with each passing week. The burning question: Should parents and guardians be primarily in charge of the education of their children or should that be left to bureaucrats, teachers union leaders and school board members?

It is axiomatic that parents should mostly influence their children’s destiny, which is so heavily impacted by their K-12 education. That is why lawmakers should expand the K-12 education options for parents to access for their children.

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed how little control and influence parents have in their children’s education in the government-run school system. When determinations were made on closing schools or imposing objectionable curricula, parents had little or no say.

By contrast, teachers unions, wielding their political influence, were determinative. This was best encapsulated when they were forcing school closures and lobbying the Biden administration Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on its school-opening guidelines.  

As parents across the country began to rise up over school closures, curriculum content, unsafe conditions and other issues, the National School Boards Association, evidently at the behest of the Biden administration, counterpunched. Last September the NSBA sent its infamous letter to President Biden alleging “threats of violence and acts of intimidation across the nation” akin to “domestic terrorism” — yet provided scant evidence. Just one month later, the NSBA repudiated the letter and apologized.

Fortunately, parents are increasingly asserting themselves over their children’s education in two important ways: by voting with their feet and voting at the ballot box.

First, parents are voting with their feet by removing their children from unresponsive government schools. In the 2020-21 school year, an estimated 1.5 million students fled district-operated schools, a decline of 3% from the prior school year according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

In New York City alone, the nation’s largest government school system, K-8 enrollment dropped 12% over a two-year period.

Where are these students going? Two sectors stand out. The U.S. Census Bureau found that 11% of households with school-age children were homeschooling in the 2020-21 school year, more than double the percentage in the prior year. And, the National Charter Schools Alliance reported charter school enrollment growth of 7% in 2020-21 over the previous year.

Nearly half of the states also responded to parental demands for educational options. The year 2021 saw a major expansion of educational alternatives across the country as 20 states added new programs such as education savings accounts to use in private or homeschool settings, and expanded existing choice programs.

In the state of Michigan, a citizen petition drive is underway by the group Let Michigan Kids Learn to override Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s veto of a bill that would have encouraged private donations to fund education savings accounts for children to pay for K-12 tuition, tutoring and other education expenses.

Second, parents are voting with their ballots. In the Commonwealth of Virginia, all three statewide offices changed parties with the election of Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears and Attorney General Jason Miyares. In the final month of the campaign, education became a top issue of concern to voters. As National Public Radio reported, “Parents who wanted more voice in schools broke for Youngkin by a large margin in exit polls.”

Children are only young once and grow up quickly, as every parent knows. A poor-quality school with low academic outcomes, unsafe environment or harmful curriculum can do lasting damage to children. In a genuine democratic society, parents deserve responsive elected officials on school boards, in statehouses and in Washington to address problems quickly.

Reforming government schools makes turning an ocean liner look quick and easy. Even successful reforms can take years to implement.

Providing more education options, by contrast, can occur rapidly with positive impact.

That is why it’s encouraging to see numerous states take action to create and expand school choice programs for parents. As states provide education alternatives, parents can access such programs to supplement their children’s education or transfer them to a preferable school.

Legislation in the U.S. Congress also would open new educational opportunities for tens of thousands of young people in every state by, for example, encouraging millions of dollars in charitable donations to fund K-12 schooling options, thereby giving parents greater control over their children’s educational path.

Much more needs to be done to bring high-quality education to all of America’s children. Much more can be done.

Congress and the Biden administration should empower parents to decide what is best for their children’s education. As the 2022 elections draw closer, parents will know who is on their side.

• Peter Murphy is vice president of the Invest in Education Coalition.