The Virginia Governor's Race Was an Advertisement for School Choice
Children are too important to be entrusted to unions or government monopolies.
As Virginia's gubernatorial election drew to a close last week, Democrat Terry McAuliffe brought in teachers union president Randi Weingarten.
He thought that would help?
I suppose he, like many progressives, believes everyone thinks the way he does.
"I'm not going to let parents come into schools and…make their own decisions," he'd said. "I don't think parents should be telling schools what they should teach."
That's the political attitude: Government runs things. We, the experts, know what's best. Parents as "customers" who make choices? Nonsense.
I hope his defeat means Americans are figuring out that such politicians are enemies of progress.
Years ago, I was surprised to discover that NYC's failing public schools spent $20,000 per student. Teachers had been holding protests where they shouted: "Fund schools! We don't have enough money!"
But they spent $20,000 (now nearly $30,000) per student! At 25 students per class, that's $500,000 per classroom! Think what you could do with that money: hire five good teachers?
Where did the money go? No one in the bureaucracy had a good answer. Governments make money…disappear.
I researched different education systems and did an ABC TV special called "Stupid in America." It showed how American students do worse than kids in other countries.
I suggested that parental choice would help. After all, competition brought us better phones, cars, supermarkets, etc., while holding prices down. Competition forces providers to constantly try new things to please their customers. But not in government schools.
This year, most private and Catholic schools opened, while "public" (government-run) schools often stayed closed.
Monopolies kill innovation. When public schools began, most Americans worked on farms. That's why schools took a summer break, so kids could help on the farm. Today, fewer than 2 percent of us work on farms, yet nearly every government school still takes the summer off.
"Unionized monopolies like yours fail," I told Weingarten (when she still would speak to me). "It is the children who you are failing."
"We are not a unionized monopoly!" she snapped. "Folks who want to say this…don't really care about kids."
But I do care about kids.
Of course, government-run schools are a monopoly. Don't like your school? Tough. School is terrible? Tough. Your taxes fund that school regardless of whether it's good or bad.
Suppose we bought groceries that way: no more supermarkets offering choices. We vote on whether we want meat or fish. Whichever wins—that's what everyone eats.
When I interviewed Weingarten, I pointed out that civil service and union rules meant it could take 10 years to fire a bad teacher.
"We'll police our own profession," she said.
"I'd like to police my job, too," I responded. "But that's not how it works in life!"
Apparently, I was wrong. When it comes to public education, it's still how things work.
After "Stupid in America" aired, and millions watched, Weingarten held a protest outside my office. Hundreds of teachers carried signs and shouted, "We are here to demand an apology from 20/20's John Stossel!"
I surprised them by coming out of the ABC building to let them yell at me personally. Teachers told me I'd insulted them. Some said (probably correctly) that I had no clue how hard their jobs were.
So, Weingarten came up with a plan to educate me. "Teach for a week!" she shouted at me, through the loudspeaker. "We've got high schools; we've got elementary schools."
The teachers liked that idea. They started chanting, "Teach, John, teach!"
I think I surprised them again by saying, "OK!"
I would have taught in any classroom they picked. I wanted to videotape it.
But then they showed their bureaucratic nature. After repeatedly rescheduled meetings, they decided that I would not be allowed to teach.
Children are too important to be entrusted to unions or government monopolies. Competition, parental choice, would bring innovation that will make schools much better.
After Glenn Youngkin won the race for governor, he said, "We're going to introduce choice within our public school system."
If he does it, it's about time.
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You have choice now with “None of the Above” an option.
Get your kids out of the public education system. Today. It is the best thing you’ll ever do for them.
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Agreed. But we all still have to pay for the socialist establishment.
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Not all public school systems are bad. It really depends where you live, and what level of undue influence local bully unions wield over the school board. Anywhere the unions hold a lot of sway, parents flee to non-public options and that leads to the monopolistic behavior. Almost all of these problems could be eliminated with back-pack funding and the removal of all artificial caps on private/charter schools. Unfortunately, the entrenched influence of public sector unions is a major obstacle to any progress.
They are. Because they coerce people that do not use their service to pay for it. The push for school choice just transfers money that should not have been taken. Like taking public funds from a crucifix in a bottle of urine and instead using it for the cowboy poetry festival.
Good response on the teach chant.
So many bitches act like they have the hardest life in the world… right up until you call their bluff.
The last thing they want is Stossel with a video camera interviewing a class they find “difficult to teach.”
It would be nice to think that people drew a larger lesson from the fiasco that is public education and realize that pretty much everything the government touches turns to shit, but I suppose it’s too much to ask that people notice that central planning is a failure right across the board.
Nah the issue isn’t govt. It’s your anti-social personality.
No more blame Trump and instead blame Jerryskids?
It’s your anti-socialist personality.
FTFY
Yes, blame people who aren’t even involved in the school system instead of the lifers who are taking advantage of the system.
Weasel says weasel things
Republican Virginia school board members call for books to be burned amid GOP’s campaign against schools teaching about race and sexuality
Courtland representative Rabih Abuismail and Livingston representative Kirk Twigg both championed burning the books that have been removed.
“I think we should throw those books in a fire,” Abuismail said. Meanwhile, Twigg said he wanted to “see the books before we burn them so we can identify within our community that we are eradicating this bad stuff.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/virginia-school-board-members-call-for-books-to-be-burned-amid-gop-s-campaign-against-schools-teaching-about-race-and-sexuality/ar-AAQyydx
Yeah. Democrats just burn public buildings and private businesses (after looting the businesses).
https://fee.org/articles/here-are-just-10-of-the-many-minority-owned-businesses-destroyed-in-the-riots/
And they use deadly weapons to assault citizens attempting to prevent their arson.
Those weren’t elected representatives setting fires. You guys elect the bottom of the barrel trash.
You guys dodged your own trash when Hillary lost.
If democrats want to come out and take an absolute position on freedom of speech and freedom of expression, I would welcome that.
As it is, finding a conservative who doesn’t like a book in public school is… pretty damn hypocritical considering what the thought police want to do to society.
Sad part is: I wouldn’t have been able to say that thirty years ago.
Progressivism is regressivism.
You are a terrible 50 center.
The books weren’t called to be burned. They were called to not be in a public high school library. The high school library isn’t the library of congress. It isnt a retailer. The books survive. You can still beat off to the illustrations if thats your thing. No books were burned.
This isn’t the huck finn controversy where leftists demanded the book to stop being printed. That’s your side 50 center.
“I think we should throw those books in a fire,” Abuismail said. Meanwhile, Twigg said he wanted to “see the books before we burn them so we can identify within our community that we are eradicating this bad stuff.”
So now you are against signaling? What’s the woke half of the political spectrum gonna do?
I like how you pretend it’s only Republicans that do this.
I’m all for respecting teachers being able to teach whatever they want.
I just wish they’d respect my right not to pay for it.
It’s kinda stupid to tell parents you don’t care what they think about teaching and are just interested in their property taxes. It’s how to lose elections.
Ok, Mr. Scrooge. No education for poor kids. That’ll end well.
Im saying that if you want to publicly fund schools, you probably shouldn’t tell the public to go fuck itself when it comes to how they teach. Democracy and all, you know.
This really isn’t a hard concept and is completely in line with democratic principles, if you really had any.
Off topic, but what has happened to Remy? I keep looking for his latesr video here and keep suffering disappointment.
Parody and poes law are now confusing with how awful the left is. They have become the parody Remy used to make fun of.
Again, Demotards are their own worst enemies.
More fake pandemic shutdown just furthers the cause of someday ending the Government Brainwashing Camps and disease spreading centers called “Public School.”
Then the homosexual Left wint have a place to indoctrinate people in their mental illness.
Yes, sure. A nailbiter of an election means it was about school choice. Do you read this shit before you post it?
Do you read news or just look at vote numbers and imagine things?
Just a year earlier, Biden won Virginia by 10%. And McAuliffe was polling ahead until he dropped that line.
Republicans should encourage (D) candidates to have Randi Weingarten participate in future elections.
But… close count!
>>>A nailbiter of an election
should have been 80/20 lol
‘Years ago, I was surprised to discover that NYC’s failing public schools spent $20,000 per student. Teachers had been holding protests where they shouted: “Fund schools! We don’t have enough money!”‘
I like to use the massive failure of the US public education system as a rebuttal when statists/socialists claim that a public health system would fix our medical supply and cost problems.
Them: the US spends the most of all developed countries on healthcare and gets mediocre results. We could fix that by nationalizing healthcare!
Me: the US spends the most of all developed countries on education and gets mediocre results–with a nationalized education system.
Them: um…
You mean the US’s healthcare system, the most market-based in the world, is the most expensive? This is not a secret to progressives. This is one of the problems they seek to solve, explicitly.
As for schools, what would you like to do about them? Move public dollars from one type of school to another type of school, right? What types would those be, and how would that help?
You are one stupid Marxist faggot.
This whole 2ish years of bullshit has exposed more than just how school choice would be great. It’s, to any objective person, shown how smart our founding principles are. Now we just have to find our way back.
The PA Commonwealth Court struck down Gov. Tom Wolf’s totalitarian mask mandate for all students in K-12 schools.
https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/pennsylvania-court-throws-out-governors-school-mask-mandate/
Wish we could get that in VA. Our school board voted to make masks optional then 2 days later Northam issued the mask order to override our local representation.
Our school board voted to make masks optional then 2 days later Northam issued the mask order to override our local representation.
Whereas in Florida, our Governor issued an order overriding local representation that wanted a mask mandate. Funny how local representation only matters when they want the right things.
close the conformity factories!
Interesting typology of Dems and Reps by Pew Research
Too bad there is never a typology analysis of people who don’t fit and don’t want to fit in the DeRp tents.
typology analysis of people who won’t be typed?
They can be typed. We can all be typed even if the type is ‘People who pretend to be totally rational and individualist’.
Oh the irony.
…because that’s what Commie-Education is; another excuse to Dictate and STEAL money by Gun-POWER “bookies” who aren’t useful enough to *EARN* money like they should be doing.
Anytime the word ‘Government’ is spouted the first question everyone should ask is; would I shoot my neighbor to make this happen. BECAUSE that’s what Government IS! Gun-Forced dictation. Defy the government long enough the final penalty will be gun-death usually or perhaps permanent imprisonment.
Government is nothing but a monopoly on GUNS. As such they don’t produce anything but Gun-Forced dictation. They don’t produce wealth or resources or education. They STEAL to pay someone who could be *EARNING* it if it was of value.
…and the only purpose of a Gun Monopoly is DEFENSE from tyrants and criminals.
Events and govt school authoritarianism has passed by this “school choice” mantra that conservatives have been pushing for decades with the results of govt schools becoming more expensive, lower quality and being infected by cultural marxism.
Its time to just pull your kids out of school..team up with a few other parents and create a class room in someone’s house. Hire a teacher..a real teacher like the old old days..someone educated in say Physics or Chemistry or even History. Not anyone with an education degree. Keep dropping the enrollment at your govt school district and property taxes have to drop as well which will allow you to pay this real teacher a nice income. “School choice” just means trading one gifter class (public teacher unions) for another “private companies hiring the same teachers”…and this lunacy about needing school choice to help urban areas needs to end. Residents of cities like the current horrible govt schools for the most part. They continue to elect the same folks and honestly education is for many not that important for their kids..no daddy, no real family…and so on. It isn’t up to us to lecture the urban core on how to educate their kids. They vote for grifter politicians like in Chicago..that is what matters to most in cities not education.
No to “school choice”..no to “govt schools”…no to Bush common core. Educate your own kids. That is the only way to stop govt schools from abusing your children.
The sheer percentage of the bullshit you people believe that is based entirely on nonsensical slogans is oppressive. School choice! Give parents a choice! Make it a market!
These all sound terrible to any sane person right out of the gate. But even if you are still clinging to Margaret Thatcher’s thighs with this “the market solves everything” inanity, you still have a big conceptual problem.
A free market in education is one in which education is not available to those who can’t afford it without government subsidy. If you want to make 70% of the country illiterate, you’re welcome to sell that as a policy goal on the campaign trail.
If, instead, you want to maintain universal education like a civilized country, all you’re talking about is shifting dollars from existing schools to new schools. And I can just bet which schools: ones with lower standards than the ones we have.
Otherwise what’s the point? If you wanted higher standards, you’d just advocate moving dollars into or otherwise fixing public schools. But if you want to lower the educational standards in America such that you can send your snot-nosed offspring to learn how Jesus had a pet dinosaur in science class, then I think you should just say that too.
Be honest about what you want and can the slogans. It’s tiring having to correct you so.
You stupid piece of shit. Your solution to everything is lots of Marxism. Which has always failed. Better every one of you is burned alive than America suffers from any more Marxism.
“but if I can’t STEAL from others it’s oppressive”, Tony paraphrased.
Get a JOB! You’re not entitled to other people’s labor like a slave-owner even if you associate with the slave-owner party.
Coercion at gunpoint is the opposite of the market. It’s also the alternative approach, favored by libertarians. This is one of those either-or distinctions looters hate.
I suppose that’s why you’re all here condemning Kyle Rittenhouse.
Oh, you only mean metaphorical guns.
Until those “metaphorical guns” ends up killing the wrong skin-colored people…. i.e. Floyd, etc, etc…. Then all the sudden it’s ‘real’? Democrats really do completely live in their own propaganda filled alternate realities.
Tony,
Chicago schools are now graduating over 80% of students…they are very excited about this improvement. Problem is less than 20% of the graduates can pass 10th grade math. The govt schools are mostly beyond saving at this point in many areas so why continue to throw good money after bad. A real solution would be to decentralize big school districts and ban teacher unions along with getting rid of the current “certification” methods. Stop hiring “education” majors and let anyone with a relevant college degree like math, any science (physical not social), or economics/history to teach. They come in at 22 as a apprentice for two years and then at 24 become “certified.” No overhead as in “equity directors” or any such bullshit. And offer kids at 14 the option of leaving school for apprenticeship programs in vocational settings…wasting another four years taking classes they wont retain or use is stupid. The problem is the current educational complex will not allow any real change which is why it might be better to abolish the current system and start over.
I would have taught in any classroom they picked. I wanted to videotape it.
But then they showed their bureaucratic nature. After repeatedly rescheduled meetings, they decided that I would not be allowed to teach.
This was never a serious challenge, either from the union side or Stossel.
1) A week wouldn’t be enough. That’s not long enough to understand what being truly responsible for a student’s learning, behavior, and safety is like.
2) Would parents go along with it? I don’t imagine that every parent of every student in a class would be happy to have their children taught by an amateur for a week because two opposing sides were looking to prove a political point.
If Stossel is interested in understanding education from a teacher’s perspective and solving problems in the system, then I would suggest interviewing a variety of teachers. Public school, private school, charter school, and parents that homeschool. And I would also suggest going into those interviews looking to learn, rather than with a combative attitude, where he would tell the public school teachers that “Unionized monopolies like yours fail.” That’s not an interview, that’s an argument.
The case for it has never been stronger, the teacher’s unions and school boards actions along with McAuliffe’s comments should be the closing arguements.
Stossel for President!
He’s got my vote! So long as he doesn’t run against Rand Paul or actually I’m starting to favor non-career politicians after Trump.