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School Choice: Competition Finally Comes to Education, Upsetting Teacher Unions and Bureaucrats
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School Choice: Competition Finally Comes to Education, Upsetting Teacher Unions and Bureaucrats

School Choice in Texas: A New Era?

Introduction to School Choice

  • Texas has recently become the 16th state to implement school choice, allowing parents more control over their children's education.
  • The introduction of competition in education is likened to improvements seen in services like FedEx compared to the Post Office.

Limitations of Current Education System

  • Many American parents have limited choices regarding schools, often dictated by their residential area.
  • An Ohio mother faced legal consequences for attempting to enroll her children in a better school district, highlighting systemic issues.

Opposition from Educational Institutions

  • Teachers' unions and bureaucrats resist parental choice due to fear of competition affecting public schools.
  • Historical context provided through John Stossel's report "Stupid in America," which criticized the lack of educational options.

Challenges within the Education System

  • Union leaders defend their stance on teacher accountability, but processes for firing ineffective teachers are described as overly complicated.
  • A proposal was made for Stossel to teach for a week; however, when he accepted, union representatives backtracked.

The Case for Parental Choice

Empowering Parents and Students

  • Education researcher Corey DeAngelis argues that funding should follow students rather than institutions, promoting true educational choice.
  • Senate Bill 2 proposes $10,000 per student for families choosing alternative schooling options.

Benefits of School Choice

  • School choice can reduce conflicts over curriculum content since parents can select schools aligning with their values.
  • Evidence from Florida shows that expanding school choice led to improved academic performance despite lower spending compared to national averages.

Misconceptions About Funding

Financial Implications of School Vouchers

  • Critics argue that private schools drain resources from public schools; however, most vouchers are less than what public schools spend per student.
  • When students leave public schools for alternatives, those institutions retain more funding per remaining student.

Addressing Underfunding Claims

  • Public school funding continues to rise; current expenditures average around $20,000 per student annually—significantly higher than private tuition costs.

Conclusion on Administrative Issues

  • The increase in administrative roles without corresponding growth in student enrollment raises questions about resource allocation within public education systems.

The Impact of Competition on School Administration

Administrative Bloat and Solutions

  • Larger administrative bloat in schools is attributed to a lack of competition, which insulates them from accountability.
  • A proposed solution is to make funding portable, allowing it to "follow the child," thereby incentivizing administrators to improve their performance or risk closure.
  • The idea is that with school choice, parents will gravitate towards better-performing schools, leading to a natural selection of effective educational practices.

The Role of Competition in Education

  • Competition among schools encourages them to enhance teaching quality as they vie for student enrollment.
  • The concept that "competition is a rising tide that lifts all boats" suggests that overall educational standards can improve when schools are forced to compete for students.
Video description

The school choice movement has gained ground! 17 states now offer universal school choice, letting families choose schools that work better for their kids. ————————— To get our new weekly video from Stossel TV, sign up here: https://www.johnstossel.com/#subscribe ————————— In most states, children who live in poor school districts are stuck in poor schools. School choice vouchers give families other options. Unions oppose it because they don’t want to compete. They claim it “takes money” from “underfunded" public schools. But public schools are not “under” funded. They spend about $20,000 per student! Much of that goes to administrative bloat. “The best solution,” says education researcher Corey DeAngelis, “is to make funding portable.” Our video above shows how school choice can help improve education.