Fund Students Instead of Systems
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pFamilies need education options now more than ever.nbsp;emEducation Week/emnbsp;justnbsp;a href=https://www.edweek.org/ew/section/multimedia/school-districts-reopening-plans-a-snapshot.html target=_blankreported/anbsp;that 85 percent of the largest 20 school districts in the U.S. aren’t beginning the school year with any in‐person instruction.nbsp;a href=https://freopp.org/70-of-the-nations-120-largest-school-districts-will-start-the-year-with-remote-instruction-and-no-b7c6b2d7a985 target=_blankAccording/anbsp;to the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, most of the nation’s 120 largest school districts intend to begin the school year without any in‐person instruction./p
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pSo it’s welcome news that Sen. Rand Paul (R–Ky.) is introducing anbsp;a href=https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/dr-rand-paul-introduces-school-act-empower-parents-increase-education-options-and-flexibility target=_blankbill/anbsp;to redirect federal K–12 education dollars to fund families directly. This would be anbsp;great step toward putting the needs of kids and parents before the needs of the public school monopoly./p
pRemote learning was anbsp;disaster for too many families this spring. Anbsp;recent analysis found that only 1nbsp;in 3nbsp;school districts even required teachers to deliver instruction. And even if remote learning performs well in certain areas, the reality remains that families have structured their lives around the fact that in‐person schooling lets parents go to work and earn anbsp;living./p
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pSen. Rand Paul wants to help families find anbsp;route around the public school monopoly /p
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pAnbsp;a href=https://twitter.com/DeAngelisCorey/status/1290055940834643975 target=_blankcoalition/anbsp;of at least 10 teachers unions partnered with the Democratic Socialists of America and other groups to put together a “National Day of Resistance” last week to “a href=https://www.demandsafeschools.org/ target=_blankDemand Safe Schools/a.” Some unions protested reopening schools with fakenbsp;a href=https://twitter.com/DeAngelisCorey/status/1290031744712732672 target=_blanktombstones/a,nbsp;a href=https://twitter.com/DeAngelisCorey/status/1290010067119398912 target=_blankobituaries/a,nbsp;a href=https://nypost.com/2020/08/03/teachers-get-creative-while-protesting-nyc-schools-reopening-plan/ target=_blankcoffins/a, andnbsp;a href=https://rare.us/rare-news/teachers-body-bags-protest/ target=_blankbody bags/a. Theirnbsp;a href=https://www.demandsafeschools.org/demands/ target=_blankdemands/anbsp;also included several items not obviously related to COVID-19, including anbsp;ban on new charter schools, anbsp;ban on new private school choice programs, anbsp;ban on standardized testing, police‐free schools, and a “massive infusion of federal money.”nbsp;/p
pThese protests come in stark contrast to responses fromnbsp;a href=https://reason.com/2020/07/17/private-schools-are-adapting-to-lockdown-better-than-the-public-school-monopoly/ target=_blankprivate schools/anbsp;and other sectors of the economy. Whilenbsp;a href=https://twitter.com/DeAngelisCorey/status/1290836888606191617 target=_blankprivate/anbsp;businesses arenbsp;a href=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/05/us/schools-reopening-private-public.html target=_blankfighting/anbsp;to reopen, many public school systems are fighting to remain closed. The incentives are different because one of these sectors gets your money regardless of whether they reopen./p
pIf anbsp;Walmart stays closed, you can take your money elsewhere. If anbsp;public school doesn’t reopen, you should similarly be able to take your children’s education dollars elsewhere. In fact, even if your schoolnbsp;emdoes/emnbsp;reopen, you should still be able to take your children’s education dollars elsewhere, because the money is for educating the child, not protecting anbsp;government monopoly./p
pThat’s where the Support Children Having Open Opportunities for Learning (SCHOOL) Act comes in./p
pThenbsp;a href=https://www.paul.senate.gov/sites/default/files/page-attachments/SCHOOLAct.pdf target=_blankSCHOOL Act/a, which Sen. Paulnbsp;a href=https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/dr-rand-paul-introduces-school-act-empower-parents-increase-education-options-and-flexibility target=_blankintroduced/anbsp;on Wednesday, would allow anbsp;large portion of existing federal education dollars to follow students to wherever they received an education—be it in anbsp;public school, anbsp;private school, or anbsp;homeschooling option. This is how several other tax‐funded initiates work, from Pell Grants to pre‐K programs to food stamps. Although federal revenues account for onlynbsp;a href=https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d19/tables/dt19_235.10.asp?current=yes target=_blankabout eight percent/anbsp;of total K–12 education funding, the SCHOOL Act would provide substantially more dollars directly to families each year than the School Choice Now Act that was justnbsp;a href=https://www.scott.senate.gov/media-center/press-releases/scott-and-chairman-alexander-introduce-school-choice-now-act target=_blankintroduced/anbsp;by Sens. Tim Scott (R–S.C.) and Lamar Alexander (R–Tenn.) two weeks ago./p
pThe Act also includes anbsp;provision that prohibits additional federal or state control over non‐public providers of education. And no family would be compelled to accept the money./p
pSome commentators have expressed concern about the possibility that certain families might waste the money on things that aren’t related to education. But it would be hard to waste more money than the public school system itself. The reality is that families are generally more likely to have thenbsp;a href=https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/families-not-bureaucrats-are-real-education-experts target=_blankinformation and incentives/anbsp;necessary to spend money in ways that will benefit their children than bureaucrats sitting in offices hundreds of miles away.nbsp;/p
pThat said, this legislation—and related education savings accountsnbsp;a href=https://www.edchoice.org/school-choice/types-of-school-choice/education-savings-account/ target=_blankprograms/anbsp;across the country—would require that the dollars be used toward approved education expenses, such as private school tuition, online learning, textbooks, curriculum, and private tutoring./p
pWhen Inbsp;a href=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yQ2UC6uUuIamp;feature=youtu.be target=_blankinterviewed/anbsp;the senator on Thursday, he said that he would like to add his proposal as an amendment to the next federal coronavirus bill, but that these types of amendments do not happen often. Either way, his team would keep the SCHOOL Act as anbsp;free‐standing bill as well./p
pFunding institutions rather than students leaves families powerless. This bill offers an opportunity to remedy that./p
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Corey A. DeAngelis is the director of school choice at Reason Foundation.