Sacrificing Students to Union Demands
Michael Ramirez, Substack
Education Monopoly
Go directly to jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.
That’s the famous Monopoly game card instruction from the Community Chest, and it’s a sad admonition for too many unlucky kids who are failed by the broken public school system and are cheated out of a productive life.
It is the consequence of the bureaucratic monopoly of our educational systems, designed by politicians and unions who prioritize job security, wages, benefits, and pension plans of the teaching and administrative class over the quality of education children in America receive.
This cruel game continues because there are no choices for concerned parents who cannot homeschool or afford to send their children to private schools. The same liberal politicians who push failing public schools on everyone else happily take advantage of private education for their own children, of course.
During the Covid Pandemic, closing schools devastated our children's education and mental development. Data showed that these school closures contributed to the largest learning drop ever recorded. Reading and writing comprehension, math, and science scores declined in every state. Many children are now reading or performing math well below their grade level.
But poor results in the public school system existed before Covid and have never reflected how much America invests in public education.
I’ve noted that our nation performs poorly compared to other advanced industrialized nations while spending significantly MORE…
In the Program of International Student Assessment (PISA) average scores in math, science and reading, the United States ranked 25th. Among the 35 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the U.S. ranked 30th in math and 19th in science, even while spending 34% higher than the average of the OECD in elementary and secondary education and double the average in post-secondary education.
The Democratic legislature in Nevada recently refused to fund their small Opportunity Scholarship program. The program benefitted the poorest children. This is in a state where math proficiency for middle schoolers is just 22%. 60% of third, fourth, and fifth graders failed English proficiency at their respective grade levels.
Once again, Democrats have demonstrated that they care more about unions than children.
I’m a free-market capitalist. The market is based on necessity, quality, and efficiency, responding to the consumer's needs. The consumer selects the best products for the best price. Those who innovate and produce preferable and more beneficial goods are rewarded with business.
It is a competition of goods and ideas, a meritocracy, to win the patronization of the consumer.
You can apply those fundamentals to education. Jeb Bush began the process in Florida almost two decades ago. Fourth graders in Florida were near the bottom level in reading and math. By incorporating school choice, Florida’s fourth graders advanced to fifth in the nation in reading and seventh in math. Today at 90%, Florida is 7th in the nation for graduation rates.
Expanding on that success, Florida Governor DeSantis recently signed the largest private school voucher expansion in U.S. history. It is just one more reason people are relocating to Florida.
School choice allows parents to choose a school that benefits their children, but that is just part of it. Any public, private, or charter educational environment should be subject to market forces to maintain progress and competition to attract and retain students. This raises the overall quality of education for everyone.
In a competitive environment where the money follows the student, public schools have no choice but to stop sacrificing children, focus on results, and prioritize the fundamental elements of education. They are also forced to utilize their resources more efficiently rather than wasting them on social engineering and fashionable but ineffective teaching techniques. Ultimately, kids will achieve more and realize their potential despite the unions, so they can end up on Boardwalk or Park Place instead of just taking a chance on the Short Line.
