National School Choice Week – a nonpartisan, nonpolitical public awareness effort – is hosting an event in Columbia, S.C. on Thursday, January 23.
The event – which will feature outgoing S.C. Superintendent of Education Mick Zais – will be held at 701 Whaley Street from 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. EST.
“Participants in National School Choice believe that parents should be empowered to choose the best educational environments for their children,” the organization’s website notes. “Supporters plan events that highlight a variety of school choice options — from traditional public schools to public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling.”
Cool …
This website has spent the last seven years championing expanded parental choices, and last year – for the first time ever – members of the S.C. General Assembly finally took a small first step in that direction.
Much more is needed, though …
Anyway … the event in Columbia is one of “5,500 independently-planned North America-based events,” according to the group.
We’ll have more info on it next week … and hope to hear from representatives of the organization regarding their specific vision for parental choice in South Carolina.
5 comments
You mean the school choice they already have?
“Participants
in National School Choice believe that parents should be empowered to choose the best educational environments for their children,” the organization’s website notes.
What about bus riders? School choice start with transportation.
Excepting home schooling, it does not matter which educational environment parents choose if their children lack transportation to their school of choice. School choice is a option for car riders whose parents drop them off at the front door of the school. There is only one bus route from any neighborhood. Bus riders have no choice in where the school bus goes, and some families have no choice but to send their kids on the school bus.
The following web page state that “In school year 2011, the fleet of 5630 buses traveled nearly 81 million miles using over 12 million gallons of diesel fuel to transport over
647,000 students daily.”
https://ed.sc.gov/agency/os/Transportation/
(647,000 seems high since total enrollment is about 700,000. Maybe that included the two trip a day to and from school.)
Are school choice advocates willing to spend another $100 million or more to double the number of bus routes, buses, bus drivers and diesel fuel so that any bus rider can do to their school of choice? Will transportation be provided so that bus riders have school choice?
If not, then who does school choice really benefit?
Only poor people need a ride to school, and those are the people we are trying to avoid by having our children in private school. How can I be expected to keep up my Country Club membership, my beach house, and my BMW if I have to keep paying all this private school tuition crap. The taxpayers need to step up and accept some responsibility for this cost.
Wouldn’t you like to see the bar tab that Howard Rich is going to run up while the General Assembly is in session?
This statement should read
“Participants in National School Choice believe the taxpayers of each state should have the opportunity to help them pay for the cost of their children’s private school.”
What more is there to say?