I’m a 90s adult. When I was a kid, I remember when the conversation about public education in the political sphere was almost always about maintaining its quality and securing funding. It wasn’t complicated by the existence of charter schools. It also wasn’t something that fringe politicians wanted to privatize.
The goal of privatization is to eliminate the opportunity and upward mobility public education provides to all children. Instead, education could only be available to children whose families would be wealthy enough to afford it. It doesn’t matter that children do not get to choose whether or not they are born into poverty. There is no other way to put it than these folks believe children coming from what they consider “lesser” circumstances should suffer. Anyone who believes in equal opportunity in this country would think of this as abhorrent.
In the current debate about the future of public schools, there are serious concerns that putting taxpayer funds into private schools is a step in the wrong direction, leading us closer to the privatization of education. Most people would agree that we should not do this.
However, public schools in Idaho are not always doing as well as they could be, so other schools are a very appealing alternative. Some parents who are very invested in their children’s outcomes choose to put their children in different schools because they feel they have no choice. However, private schools are not subjected to the same regulations as public schools, this frees up instructors to use non-traditional teaching methods that can yield better results.
This is a double-edged sword, however. Because private schools aren’t held accountable like public schools, things such as IEP compliance and special education programs suffer. Additionally, public schools that offer these programs more comprehensively are suffering from the redirection of funds to private schools. There are parents who are torn because of this. They want public education to be better, but they don’t want public schools to suffer if they send their kids to a private school for a better educational opportunity. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
We need to invest in public education by choosing to revamp its programs to better prepare our children for the modern world. Investing in public education means we must support public education financially. We can do this first by fighting the current voucher scheme that threatens to divert public funds to private schools. It’s telling that the chair of the committee hearing HB447 is refusing to hear remote testimony from all parts of the state. It is also important we put pressure on politicians who are responsible for the future of public education so that we can invest in its future financially.
Quality public education should be accessible to all.
Cecile Pérez is a mental health professional and serves on the Bonneville County Democratic Central Committee as the chair for legislative district 32.