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This year has seen the biggest explosion of school choice policy in our nation’s history, and the credit for such an immense victory goes to the School Choice MVP: Randi Weingarten.
School choice advocates have campaigned on the efficacy of school choice for years while well-funded and coordinated teachers’ unions, like the American Federation of Teachers led by president Randi Weingarten, ignored their ideas and kept children in the same failing schools.
Proponents of educational freedom never gave up and continued to tout the empowerment of students and families, but until recently, this fight remained an uphill battle.
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What changed? Power-hungry teachers’ unions had a stranglehold over children’s education for decades, but recently massively amplified their anti-child, anti-learning policies, and curricula. Parents noticed. That changed the conversation in ways we haven’t seen in decades.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, is a surprising school choice star in 2023. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
The atrocious misteaching of American history and explicit sexualization of children were no longer hidden. On top of these persisting issues, the pandemic gave the teachers’ unions and politicians the excuse to usher in unethical masking requirements and anti-scientific lockdowns — all to the detriment of children’s learning.
And those who cheered all of this on, such as the greatest cheerleader Weingarten, have come to regret it. Because it’s not just that the schools closed, but through Zoom classrooms, parents got a glimpse into the far left’s radical education agenda.
When concerned parents began questioning the education system they had entrusted to prioritize their children, they were met with more shutdowns, more masking and no solutions. The only place to turn was to an alternative option to public education.
From there, charter, private and even homeschool enrollment skyrocketed. And the families who didn’t have that option looked to legislation that would grant them that freedom. Thus, the school choice revolution began.
Last year’s results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress revealed a devastating drop in reading and math scores for American students, and those with their best interest at heart responded. School choice leads to better academic results for students and restores control of a child’s education to parents.
Allowing parents to exercise this right to choose how their child is educated meets the present moment in American history. Seventy-two percent of registered voters support school choice, according to national polling, and our country continues to see a growing demand for parental rights and educational freedom.
With this clamor from parents demanding more for their children, state governments responded too. In just this year’s state legislative session cycle, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Florida, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah have passed massive school choice expansions, and another whopping more than 110 have been introduced or pre-filed in 34 states nationwide to expand school choice opportunities.
More wins will come this year. Despite facing major opposition in North Carolina from a hypocrite Democrat governor – Roy Cooper – threatening parents with a state emergency, school choice advocates and Republican legislators have refused to back down and have enough cosponsors to override his veto.
Students and parents rally at the Ohio Statehouse in support of possible changes that would increase eligibility for taxpayer-funded school vouchers to K-12 students statewide on Thursday, May 17, 2023, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Samantha Hendrickson)
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The Ohio Senate’s budget includes an expansion of their existing private school choice program to all families, regardless of income. The New Hampshire legislature just sent a bill to expand school choice to Republican Governor Chris Sununu’s desk.
Many states haven’t made these legislative strides yet, but the dam could still break for them soon. Texas, Georgia, Idaho, and a few other states came close, but the fight for school choice is still waging.
That could not have been said in years past, and it’s another sign that the tide has turned. Even the sheer domination of the school choice debates taking place among states’ legislative sessions this year is promising evidence of the rising momentum for education freedom.
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While the last few years have been painful for parents and students alike, school choice is finally becoming a reality for many families across the nation. Blinded by their agenda and failing to put kids first, the Left is losing control over the minds of other people’s children.
So, thank you, Randi Weingarten and the teachers’ unions, for showing America your true colors. We’re freeing families from your depraved clutches once and for all, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
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Ashley Hayek is the executive director at America First Works and the chief engagement officer at America First Policy Institute.