http://www.onenewsnow.com/Perspectives/Default.aspx?id=1272082At his pre-inaugural prayer breakfast on January 4, Florida Governor Rick Scott spoke of King Solomon's request for wisdom rather than riches or power. Then, referring to himself and his Cabinet members also being sworn in, he told those attending the breakfast: "All of us need your prayers. We need the same wisdom King Solomon was given to make the right decisions."
If there is one area where Governor Scott is going to need wisdom, it will be education. As The St. Petersburg Times reported, when he spoke to a group of students in that Tampa Bay community on December 9, he "blew the door wide open to the idea of a voucher-like program [called an "education savings account"] for all students, saying he's working with lawmakers to allow state education dollars to follow a student to the school his or her parents choose."
Speaking to the Times reporter, Scott said: "The parent should figure out where the dollars for that student are spent, so if the parents want to spend it on virtual school, then spend it on virtual school. If they want to spend it on, you know, whatever education system they believe in, whether it's this public school or that public school or this private school or that private school, that's what ought to happen."
Such an idea is refreshing and exceedingly rare in the world of educational policymakers and politicians. And it will no doubt continue to be rare as long as teachers unions and education bureaucrats exercise control over state legislatures and the Federal Department of Education. But because he has a Republican-controlled legislature to help him pass his initiatives, Scott's idea has a chance of becoming reality.
I firmly believe parents should have control over their children's education. They should be able to choose where they send their children to school. As I wrote in a previous article, "Education: Time to Put Parents in Charge," the most direct way for parents to gain this kind of control over their children's education is for "funding to follow students, not sustain unsuccessful schools."
Nevertheless, since this has not been the tradition for at least the past 150 years of public education in America, it's hard to win supporters for such a view. There are already vociferous opponents lining up to try to kill Scott's plan, even before he has a chance to propose it to the Florida legislature.
Before Governor Scott's inauguration, opponents used Facebook to tell teachers to wear red on that day to symbolize their opposition to his proposed changes to Florida's schools. Editorials and bloggers are calling Scott's vouchers-for-all plan a "horror-show for Florida education," and a "school plan for scoundrels." It's argued that Scott's "educational savings account" plan "threatens the viability of public education" in Florida, and Mother Jones, "the most widely read liberal publication in America," has called it part of the conservatives' plot to "blow up the public school system." Other critics have said that any such plan would not pass state constitutional muster, since the Florida Supreme Court ruled against Governor Jeb Bush's voucher plan in 2006.
Scott's idea of an "education savings account" to give funds to students did not originate with him. It is just one of a number of recommendations made by an Education Transition Team that Scott calls "Champions for Achievement." The governor-elect asked this group to help him find "innovative ways to create a new education system for a new economy." The 20-member team includes education reformer Michelle Rhee, former Chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools, as well as Patricia Levesque, who helped shape Jeb Bush's education agenda.
Scott's "Champions" have developed 20 proposals for education. These include giving parents a financial report on their school's spending and an annual academic report on their child's progress compared to developmental norms. They have also suggested providing parents with a "trigger" option that allows them to force their school to be restructured and to have a say in how it will be done.
Will Scott's tenure as governor mean "the beginning of a new era for public education that's focused on what matters most -- educating students," as some conservatives are hoping?
Perhaps -- if Governor Scott holds on to his view that parents should have control of their children's education. That is what's missing in America's education system today. We've forgotten that education is primarily the responsibility of the parents, not the state. This should be at the foundation of any so-called educational reforms. It is not only a fundamental conservative principle; it's a fundamental biblical one.
From here on out, any changes to America's educational system should give control back to parents -- not take it away. The fact that some parents have abdicated their responsibility is not a sufficient reason for ignoring this principle and allowing state and federal bureaucrats to gain more and more control over our children's minds and their lives.
Since 1989, per-pupil spending in America has increased by an astonishing 42 percent. Yet in spite of all the money that has been poured into schools, a recent study by the Fordham Institute of Raleigh, NC, shows that bad schools rarely get better -- nor do they close down. Even though the regulations of President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act were intended to push low-performing schools to do one or the other, it is the rare school that does either.
Therefore, in this new year, perhaps we should consider the one plan that hasn't been tried in all of the efforts to reform government-controlled schools. Let's give all parents the freedom to decide how and where their children should be educated by adopting a "vouchers-for-all" plan for Florida's children. Let's put the focus on educating students, not preserving the status quo.
Topic: Vouchers for all: A new start for Florida education in 2011 (Read 1398 times)