Politicians have wasted 30 years
In 1983, when A Nation at Risk was published, the education establishment promised to improve the public schools. Now, after 30 years of hard work and lots and lots of money, the schools are no better. Are we going to give the politicians another 30 years? No!!What is school choice?
School choice gives parents financial support so they can choose the kind of education that best suits their children’s needs. The support can take the form of education tax credits for private school or homeschooling, school vouchers, charter schools, or private scholarships. With school choice, parents don‘t have to pay twice, once in taxes and once in tuition.Will school choice weaken conventional public schools?
The evidence shows that school choice strengthens public schools. In Florida’s A-Plus program, children in schools that receive a failing grade from the state would be offered vouchers if their school received a failing grade the next year. Those schools achieved test-score gains more than twice as large as those achieved by other schools. School choice made public schools stronger.Taxpayers win, too. In Cleveland, the state saves $6,100 for every child that uses vouchers. In Milwaukee, the school system would have to spend $70 million for new facilities if vouchers were eliminated today.
Why a School Choice Party?
In New York, there is now no political party that represents the interests of school choice aggressively and consistently. School choice should be a nonpartisan issue, and with a School Choice Party, it can be. We invite everyone, regardless of their views on other issues or their party affiliations, to join with us in promoting the best educational opportunities for children.Only a Party committed to school choice can seek out and endorse candidates similarly committed. The Party can endorse candidates running on other party lines, so parents will know immediately which candidates represent their interests. The Party can also run candidates of its own to show the strength of the school-choice constituency.
