School choice is critical for families — and educators
How do you count your blessings?
You might start by counting the choices you have in life. By this measure, most American families can count themselves pretty darn blessed. Whether looking for a new home or a new car, where to eat Saturday night or where to worship Sunday morning, choices abound — and we all benefit as a result.
Of the many choices we make in life, which ones can be more important than those we make for our children? Yet, when it comes to school choices, most families are denied the chance to count more than one. Most parents realistically have no choice, practically and/or financially, but to send their kids to the public schools in the zip codes where they live. While many are satisfied with their local schools, others are not, and growing numbers wish to explore more options for their children’s education. It so happens that wider school choice would offer a great blessing not only to these families, but also to us, the educators. When parents are allowed to freely choose which schools their children attend, they are signing on as committed partners with those schools and placing tremendous trust in their children’s teachers. As an educator, it’s hard to imagine being paid a higher compliment.
Teachers also benefit from a wider variety of schools in which they might choose to teach. As in any profession, more options benefit the worker.
I happen to teach in a public school, the same one I once attended as a child. In fact, the classroom in which I teach sixth graders today is the very same classroom where I sat as a sixth grader nearly 40 years ago. My teachers then were among the very best, and I remember them fondly. I considered it a privilege to teach with a few of them as I was beginning my own career in education.
My colleagues today are no less impressive and no less dedicated than my former teachers were. Year after year, our students excel and our small town supports our school system. In a relatively affluent corner of New England, where public schools exist alongside parochial schools, trade schools, private academies, public charter schools, magnet schools, and a robust home-schooling community, the teachers at our public schools rise to the occasion year in and year out.
Our families have more choices for their children than my parents had for me in the 1980s, and yet our school system continues to thrive nonetheless.
Too many politicians and education bureaucrats would have us believe that school choice would hurt public schools in our cities, but such claims raise two alarms. First, they ignore the basic tenet that our schools exist to serve our students — not the other way around. Perhaps these bureaucrats are more worried about being held accountable and keeping their office jobs than they are about supporting the teachers who are pouring their hearts out in the classroom.
Second, these claims reveal an alarming lack of confidence in public educator who strive every day to be their best for their students, as well as a lack of trust and respect for parents who merely want the best for their children.
Looking back on my education, I would choose my teachers all over again. I hope my students, when they look back someday, will say that they’d choose me and my colleagues again too. I’d like them to count us among their families’ wisest choices and their greatest blessings.