Families need market elections in education – Mainline Media News

If the policies, standards, and quality of education provided by public schools in the 1950s were restored, today’s parents, children, and taxpayers would benefit.

But as the end of another chaotic school year approaches, it has become clear that the American public education system as a whole is collapsing.

The main reasons for the decline of public education include 1) government interference and incompetence and 2) trade union dominance. Politicians have made the mistake of creating and expanding social programs that have actually weakened families, who should be the main stakeholders and beneficiaries of a good education system.

In addition, politicians have imposed broad education policies that primarily benefit special interests, especially unions that fund political campaigns. Nothing in public education has improved since it was seized by teachers’ unions in the 1960s. In fact, performance has declined.

Ironically, unions’ demands for distance learning during the COVID-19 panic allowed parents to see how horrific public schools can be, and their insistence that the young cohort least susceptible to coronavirus remains disguised made it clear that unions prefer public funding over the well-being of schoolchildren.

Today, “awakened” racial and sexual / gender abominations have infiltrated many classes of adolescents without the knowledge or consent of parents.

Jonathan Turley wrote: “[T]The world’s largest science teachers’ association has published a guide to “anti-oppression” terminology for science teachers. In a guide entitled “Biology that Includes Gender: A Basis in Action,” the National Association of Science Teachers called for “biology that includes gender,” which includes abandoning terms such as “parents,” “men,” and “women.” . “,” Mother “and” father “.

Because of “science” … or what …

Parents are outraged by the indoctrination and sexualization of their children. Since 2020, more than 1.2 million students have dropped out of public schools, many of whom have gone on to homeschooling.

The most common argument of union leaders for higher wages is lower average teacher pay compared to other categories of professional employment. However, high staff turnover creates a significant number of teachers at / near the bottom of the pay scale.

In union-friendly Pennsylvania, taxpayer-funded teacher compensation is paid for tuition, and fifteen years of experience can exceed $ 90,000 a year for 180 class days plus a few working days – 15 working weeks of paid leave, not counting paid leave.

Teachers can receive immediate retirement and lifetime health benefits only after 30 years of service, at a time when other professionals are just approaching their peak pay.

Trade unions and union-owned politicians refuse to pay merit or liquidate property. The unions want poor schools and incompetent payers to be deprived of objective control. Indeed, union contracts protect lousy teachers.

As in any business, competence should determine pay, especially in low-income schools, which are the least likely to suffer failures.

Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Washington, DC and New York are proving that cash alone does not provide quality education. By anyone’s standards, these systems repeatedly fail, spending significantly more per student per year than more successful areas.

Standards and accountability for teacher and student performance would improve schools, but standards should be approved by parents and set locally, where their relevance and integrity can best be assessed and measured.

Areas need to abolish dysfunctional “awakened” nonsense. High-quality, meaningful curricula provided by qualified professionals are essential for quality education. So are teacher-based remuneration plans, termination of automatic tenure, and reporting standards for evaluation by school administrators.

Because not all schools have such curricula, teachers or administrators, and because students ’skills and needs are different, school choice is also important.

Americans have many choices in the lives we live, in the products we buy, and in the services we choose. The need to survive in free markets enhances the quality of any other service business. Education will be no exception.

Elections for poor students stuck in poor schools, including permits, charter schools, and tuition tax breaks, can break the cycle of school failure. Successful pilot school selection programs need to be implemented more widely, especially in the worst areas.

The results of the existing programs confirm the moral and civil rights to justify the choice of school.

For years, election campaign politicians have voted with teachers’ unions to keep poor urban children in unsuccessful schools. In doing so, politicians have denied millions of children they will never meet the opportunity to get a decent start in life, and condemned many to failure.

In the current system, too many schoolchildren, their parents and taxpayers are lacking.

Contact Jerry Shank’s reviewer at jshenk2010@gmail.com