The pre-Trump Republicans had problems selling a whole lot of things — like freedom and liberty — but specifically in regard to their failures in bringing true change — and freedom — to public K-12 education.
Put on your selling hat and think about it for a minute. The United States spends more money per pupil than any other country on the planet — over $17,000 per pupil per year. In many places the number is far higher. In New York, it’s an astonishing $33,000 per pupil.
Go to that link and see the averages for your state and remember these are averages for the state. In the large metropolitan areas, it is generally far above the statewide averages.
And what do these large metropolitan areas have in common? They are largely Democrat strongholds and their public K-12 school systems suck. In many states they are high-density liberal sanctuaries which overwhelm the wishes of the vast majority of the rest of the state. Let’s change that.
They are also places where children’s lives are destroyed before they even have a chance. And the poorer a child is, the worse it is.
Yet every President since at least Kennedy has had a plan to “fix” public K-12 education and where are we today? You could staff a small army with the number of people fighting to reform public education.
But most fourth and eighth graders aren’t proficient in math or reading. SAT reports 12th grade reading scores are at a 40-year low. ACT, another college testing service, reports 75% of incoming college freshman are not prepared for college. Only four percent of African-American students graduate from high school ready for college. Forty percent of all college freshmen must take some sort of remedial course work. Fewer than half of college students graduate within six years. And the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports 80 million to 90 million adults — about half the workforce — don’t have the skills required to get or advance in jobs that pay a family-sustaining wage.
Our schools are failing even though our country is filled with hard-working, dedicated, and loving teachers, administrators, para-pros, and volunteers.
The only possible solution? End the government monopoly on K-12 and force schools to compete for students by funding students, not schools or school districts. This won’t destroy public education, just change it.
How difficult can it be to sell parents in New York that we want to give them $33,000 per kid per year for their kids education?
Or $18,000 per kid per year for California or almost $22,000 for Illinois or around $20,000 for Oregon and Washington or over $21,000 for Pennsylvania? And this can be done without costing an additional dime!
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Jesus Christ is King
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