There is nothing more fundamental to a community than a good school. Good schools prepare young people to be good citizens. To be productive citizens. Bad schools prepare children for a life of disappointment.
Most of us like our kids’ schools. Most of us like our kids’ teachers. That is why it is so tough to change school policies.
But many schools, particularly in bigger cities here in Wisconsin and across the country, are failing our kids. The schools are failing because teachers are refusing to teach.
This is school choice week, and if you want to know why parents need a choice in their kids’ education all you have to do is look to Milwaukee, Racine, or Chicago.
Fox 6 had the story Sunday night.
The Racine Unified School District (RUSD) looked quite divided Saturday, Jan. 23 as rallies both for and against reopening schools took place.
"We think they’re getting some pressure to reopen," said Kelly Ulrich, an RUSD parent.
The RUSD board has a decision to make: To continue online schooling, or reopen schools.
"Let's get our kids back in school," Tiffnee Julian, an RUSD parent, said.
The group Racine Educators United hosted a news conference on Saturday, hoping their concerns were heard loud and clear.
"It is simply not safe to reopen schools at this time," said Angelina Cruz, president of Racine Educators United. "There's no place that educators would rather be than in the classroom with our students, we just want to wait until it is safe for everybody."
Racine teachers’ union is not alone. Many power teachers’ unions are refusing to go back to classrooms. They say it’s unsafe (even though there is no evidence to show that) and they say they will not return until they all get vaccines.
I love McDonalds. The quarter pounder is delicious. But after years and years I was happy when Culvers opened. Same with Five Guys and every other $8 burger joint. The market gave us choices, and we got better burgers because of it.
Why can’t we do the same for public schools? Why are kids punished because of their zip code? Why are kids forced to learn from home while the school district down the street has kids in class?
These are questions that deserve a real debate. There are questions, school size and property taxes being chief among them, but we can figure those out.
The focus on getting back to class in most news stories is the teachers. We should be focusing on the kids. And if the teachers are standing in the way of kids learning, those kids should be able to choose something else.
Photo Credit: National School Choice Week