Writing in the Herald-Sun, Darrell Allison, president of Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina, makes his case for empowering North Carolina parents with more options for where their children can attend school.
When it comes to who should be the ultimate decision maker and most accountable for a child’s education, the answer is not only obvious, but has been reaffirmed year after year: a strong majority of voters believe parents should ultimately have the decision making power regarding how to best educate a child, according to a recent Survey USA poll. That’s accountability at its best.
Unfortunately, not every parent can access the school that may work best for their child. For example, wealthy parents exercise their ability to choose by moving to an area with good traditional public schools or paying for private school. Interestingly, no one seems to question the wealthy parent’s judgment in sending their child to a private school or highly scrutinizes the quality of that private school. But when legislation is crafted to assist low-income and working-class families with similar options, public education is suddenly on the brink of disaster!
Poor parents should not be subjected to this double standard. We should not assume that one’s intelligence is proportionate to the size of their bank account, nor should we project this idea that poor parents don’t have good common sense, as they, too, know what type of education is best for their child.
