Education is such a fundamental element of American life, we often take it for granted. Yet the fundamental nature of education is precisely what makes it the political policy every citizen should care about.
Whether you have children or not, education policy affects you. Children spend 12 of the most formative years of their lives -- typically seven hours a day, 180 days per year -- in school. That’s a minimum of 1,260 hours per year, or 15,120 total hours from the first grade through the 12th grade. During those thousands of hours, the minds of American youth are being influenced, for better or worse. (And with roughly 90 percent of kids attending government schools, it’s usually “for worse.”)
Even if you are not the parent of a child in the U.S. school system, the old cliché holds true: These students are “tomorrow’s leaders.” The children being educated (or indoctrinated) in today’s schools will be the lawmakers, business owners, police officers, teachers, and lawyers of the future. You’ll encounter them in everything you do -- from shopping at the grocery store to getting a cavity filled.
Do you really want to live in a society comprised of citizens who can’t do basic math? Or be neighbors with people who have no idea what caused the Civil War or what happened during the Holocaust? Or how about living in a town where the mayor believes, as a Massachusetts public school district does, that condoms should be handed out to five-year-old children?
Some of these scary scenarios are inevitable, regardless of what school system our nation adopts. However, our country is assuredly doomed if we continue down the current path of widespread government control of education. The good news is that the education choice movement is growing. This Thanksgiving, be grateful for school choice for these five reasons:
QuoteDo you really want to live in a society comprised of citizens who can’t do basic math? Or be neighbors with people who have no idea what caused the Civil War or what happened during the Holocaust? Or how about living in a town where the mayor believes, as a Massachusetts public school district does, that condoms should be handed out to five-year-old children?
This is exactly the world we live in and have for some time!