Guest Column: South Carolina School Choice Law Benefits The Public

If a person wants their child to receive a “Christian” education or other religious education, then they should pay for it out of their own pocket, not with the use of my tax dollars. And converting public tax dollars to private use, at the user’s discretion, is a recipe for corruption, which this state already has quite enough of. What goes unsaid in this little free advertisement for “school choice” is that it’s regurgitated propaganda coming straight from the radical right-wing Cato Institute courtesy of the Koch family, who want to monetize public schools by converting them into choice programs, where they, of course, would make a fat profit. The arguments for “choice” also don’t account for students who have disabilities whom private schools typically refuse to enroll, but public schools must serve these kids, thereby dragging down the academic performance of a school. Pulling money out of public schools will see their hasty demise at a time when fewer students are enrolling in teacher education programs. But that’s the right-wing plan–defund public education. What they never seem to focus on is how limited the curriculum can be in some of these private, “religious” schools. But that’s another right-wing goal as well–the dumber the populace, the easier they’ll fall for con jobs like “school choice”.