Our nation’s one-size-fits-all K-12 education system is failing far too many students. Even though more than a trillion dollars of federal taxpayer funds have gone to states and school districts, student achievement remains stagnant and lags far behind our international economic competitors and geopolitical adversaries.
Worse yet, union leaders and their allies have used their political power to push aside parents, families, and classroom teachers to dominate public education in ways that harm students and limit their opportunities. Rather than bolster innovative educators who can work with parents to meet the individual learning needs of each student, union activists have favored an outdated industrial model of education in order to increase their political power. Their embrace of ideological approaches to teaching, like Critical Race Theory and pedagogical fads, has thwarted good classroom teachers, ignored sound academics, and distracted the public from the pressing need to prepare students for careers and higher education.
We strongly support policies that ensure all Americans have the freedom to choose the education that is best for them, whether a district or charter public school, private or parochial school, micro-school, or home school. Families who choose district schools should have confidence that their children’s needs take precedence over the concerns of union activists and government bureaucrats.