School choice benefits almost everybody. There’s uproar in America today over public-school curriculum content. It’s driving wider interest in the idea of using municipal revenues to fund parent directed tuition payments. Turns out there is much to commend this approach to school choice. Parents are empowered to decide on the use of their own property taxes, 70 or 80% of which typically fund public schools. They may affirm those public systems by sending their money down the traditional path. Or parents may vote with that stipend by selecting a different municipality or even a private institution. Teachers in all these candidate schools benefit from the competition for paying customers. It naturally drives them to excel at their professions.
Municipalities get one step closer to level, predictable costs for educating children. Students, themselves, benefit from higher energy, more pupil-centric programs. Paid staff of the public teachers’ unions might not recognize the benefits they get from school choice right away. They will have greater challenges negotiating agreements that permit their rank and file to attract the tuition payments needed to fund operations. In the end, though, that will be a boost to union management as they are forced to do better for both their membership and their municipal customers. With both STEM and vocational skills at a premium in today’s workforce, school choice will help cities and towns better prepare their youngsters for the real world. What’s not to like? Let’s get started!
Mark Zaccaria
Danbury