Kristofferson Songs And School Choice
Florida has been in the forefront of the school voucher movement. That is a program that I applaud.
Every school should be a “charter.” If that were to happen, then the state must provide a level playing field for traditional public schools to compete. Senate President Passidomo is attempting to do that with her initiative to reduce regulation of public schools. There should be a merging of requirements for all schools to follow, and the fewer the better.
There should be the broadest range of subjects and teaching methods available in different schools. It isn’t about dictating curriculum or subject matter. School choice is not the state’s way or the highway. Rather it is about the state staying out of educational content to a much greater degree than is presently the case.
In the current environment, one parent can have a veto over what is in a library or in a classroom. Parental rights should not mean that either a majority or a minority of other parents can dictate what goes on in the schools. That is why vouchers are such an important tool.
Currently in Ron’s Florida, freedom has a perverse meaning. Freedom is whatever Ron believes and all else is “woke.” Reading, writing, and arithmetic have become political as have all other school activities. DeSantis will protect us from everything he considers bad or whatever is not what he believes. Bobby McGee would be turning over in her grave because to Ron freedom is just another word devoid of true meaning.
But true freedom means the ability to have choice. Choice in what to read. Choice in what to think. And choice in how your children are educated and what their belief system is. That is what we forget when we allow the state to dictate what is appropriate.
It doesn’t matter whether the majority wants something. Those in the majority have the right to send their children to a school that best exemplifies their beliefs. Everyone has that right. In a marketplace (and education is a marketplace), then the parent should be able to source the school which is closest to what the parent believes provides the best education for their children.
Passidomo is on the right track. I just hope it results in true choice and not code for how we can restrict freedom so that everyone conforms to what Governor Ron and the state believe. Because if that is the case, another of Kris Kristofferson’s songs, “Nobody Wins,” will ring true
