Politics

COX: Why Are Republicans Still Simping For Government Schools?

OPINION
Dark and empty classroom at P.S. 59 in Brooklyn
Hannah Cox Contributor
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On April 9, a sophomore in North Carolina named Christian McGhee raised his hand and asked his English teacher whether her use of the word “aliens” referred to “space aliens, or illegal aliens who need green cards?” He was suspended for three days for using a racial slur and blocked from competing in a major track meet.

In May, the California Teachers Association brazenly posted a meme advertising their plans to undermine parental objections to curriculum in the public school system.

Screenshot / Twitter

Screenshot / Twitter

And teachers are taking to TikTok to warn Americans about the dire state of their childrens’ academic progress, with numerous studies backing them up.

But despite mounting concerns with the state of our public school system, a number of Republicans who claim to stand for limited government and fiscal responsibility voted to continue trapping kids in these failing (and increasingly woke) systems during the state legislative season of 2024.

There are no good reasons to oppose school choice policies, only financial ones. American schools are going downhill precisely because they are government run. The U.S. spends $15,500 per kid per year on average — 38 percent more than the average of other OECD countries — but our kids keep getting dumber. Because the government maintains a monopoly on education, though, there are no incentives within the system to force improvement. 

To make matters worse, schools have been captured by unions and bureaucrats that lean significantly to the left. Who controls education and curriculum matters. It is due to this that we increasingly see so much classroom time devoted to woke culture theory rather than the teaching of foundational subjects. The public school system exists to teach people what to think, not how to think, and the evidence of that is already littering our society.

As a whole this is an anti-capitalist institution that is using our tax dollars to teach kids to hate our country, failing to provide them with the tools they need to think for themselves, and funneling the money we throw at it to Democratic politicians.

So why would Republicans vote to entrench it by opposing school choice policies that would empower parents, introduce competition, and give American kids (and therefore our future) a fighting chance?

They should be asked.

While this is by no means an exhaustive list, here are some of the Republicans who did the bidding of the teachers’ unions and the Democrats this year.

In Kentucky, state Reps. Michael Meredith and Billy Wesley both opposed educational freedom. According to my sources on the ground, Wesley told activists he would support the bill before ultimately voting against it. They were joined by ten others.

In ruby-red Alabama, six Republican legislators voted against the universal education savings account program that the governor and GOP legislative leadership prioritized. The Alabama Republicans who partnered with Democrats were state Reps. Alan Baker, Tracy Estes, Chris Sells, Randall Shedd, David Standridge, and Tim Wadsworth. 

Over in Tennessee, state Reps. Jeremy Faison and Jody Barrett both lied to stakeholders on the ground, assuring them of their support and then flipping their votes last minute.

And in Texas, Republicans who voted against school choice (state Reps. John Kuempel, DeWayne Burns, Justin Holland, and Gary VanDeaver) seem to be enlisting the support of teachers’ unions to save them in run-off races with primary challengers who support school choice.

Other Republicans who opposed school choice in Texas reportedly have already been replaced.

As to why these lawmakers took these stances, we can only speculate (especially considering the fact that many of them are liars when it comes to this topic). But speculation tends to coalesce around the fact that teachers unions have quietly been donating millions to GOP races in 32 states in recent months.

If so, these people are pretty cheap dates. It doesn’t take much to get a whole lot of people to sell out America and our future, it seems.

Hannah Cox is the President and Co-Founder of BASEDPolitics, a frequent guest on Fox News, and a consultant for Americans for Prosperity, which advocates for school choice.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller.