Consider this story from Souderton, Pennsylvania, north of Philadelphia and ask yourself: What’s wrong with this picture?
“As the Souderton Area School District goes through the controversial process of shuttering one of its seven elementary schools due to a downward trend in enrollment, one small charter school in its borders is making plans to grow.
“The Souderton Charter School Collaborative, a K-8 school in the borough, wants to build up its middle school program, increasing enrollment from 200 to about 250 students.
“The directors also have applied to open up a second school within the North Penn School District. That school would likely accommodate 85 students.
“The expansion is much needed, considering the charter school had more than 250 students on its waiting list last year, according to Wendy Ormsby, the school’s director.”
A backlog of 250 students trying to get into one school while parents and their kids flee a school district serving the same area. That backlog of students waiting to get into the school that’s outperforming the others says there are a lot of students trapped in schools failing to meet their needs.
Unfortunately, that’s a scene being repeated across the United States. In community after community, parents are looking for alternatives to failing schools and finding their choices are limited.
In many cases, like Souderton, you literally have to win the lottery to get your kids into charter schools that are outperforming other public schools. Or you have to be wealthy enough to be able to send your children to a private school.
At End The Education Plantation, we want to change this picture. We want to give every parent in America – regardless of where they live, how much money they have or the color of their skin – the opportunity to send their children to schools offering the kind of quality education they need to lead happy, successful lives.
Our proposal is simple: A federal law requiring every state that accepts federal educational funds to provide Educational Freedom Accounts for every K-12 student equal to 95% of the average money spent per pupil in that state. Congress and the President could do that in a matter of days if they had the political will to do so. Or if we put enough political pressure on them to make them do it.
The arguments against our proposal generally boil down to this: You can’t do that because it will destroy our public schools. No, it won’t destroy them. It will change them. It will bring freedom and competition to our educational system. Competition and freedom of choice have been proven over and over to make things better, not worse.
Our proposal will force school districts like the one in Souderton to change or die. And in a truly competitive environment most schools are likely to get better. Schools like those in Souderton are dying a slow death today because they’re resisting the changes that need to happen, not embracing them.
We’re a grassroots effort. If you agree with me, please add your voice and your energy to our
cause. Get Involved!