I’ve read the articles about the threat Houston County officials have made to fine and jail parents who are allegedly signing affidavits in desperation to get their children a quality education. While it’s easy to debate about the legality of these parents’ actions, critics and Houston County officials are missing the two critical points here.
First, the bold statement parents are making about the need for real options within the public school system should not be ignored. These parents are taxpayers. They are consumers who are dissatisfied with the product they are getting in return. These parents were willing to risk breaking the law to provide their children with the education for which they pay. As the author of HB251, the law written to provide parents with options within their own school district, I’ve heard from many parents both in Houston County and around the state. When they contacted my office, they were either excited to finally have another option or were frustrated that they didn’t really get the options they hoped for because their respective districts created rules that denied them access to the schools of their choice. It is time for us to raise the level of conversation about what school choice is and why it’s a necessary part of education reform. Our current national standing in graduation rates, test scores and number of schools and districts failing to meet standards under No Child Left Behind speaks volumes that our ‘one size fits all model’ of education is not working and must be transformed. There are schools that are succeeding and we must commit ourselves to replicating those best practices so that all of Georgia’s children, regardless of their zip code, have access to that kind of education.
Second, while accessing school choice is not always about leaving an underperforming school, it too often is. We need to act with a sense of urgency to get all of our schools up to par, so that no one has to risk fines, jail time or even giving up guardianship for the sake of a public and constitutionally guaranteed education. No reasonable person would support breaking the law, but no parent who cares about education would argue with doing everything we can to prepare our children for a bright future. Rather than focus on criminalizing hard working parents, we ought to spend our energy vigorously and expeditiously repairing Georgia’s education system – not with a 20-year plan, but a ‘Right Now’ plan. I refuse to go along with the façade that we are doing all we can to fix the ills of our education system. The truth is we are not. It’s time for us to challenge the status quo and vehemently disrupt the business-as-usual approach we’ve employed for decades. Let’s apply research and best practices to remedy the system that promises every Georgia child a quality k-12 education.
Real school choice is choosing between two or more great schools, not moving from the underperforming or mediocre to the slightly better. I do not support anyone breaking the law, and am not advocating for parents to falsely swear, do anything dishonest or ignore current district policy (even if it is antiquated and needs addressing immediately). However, the secret is out and parents all around this state are responding to it. We have two kinds of schools. First, there are those schools that have “no excuse” principals, engage committed teachers with high expectations for their students, and encourage real parental involvement. Then there are those schools that lack these key ingredients. This is a time in our country for innovation and no excuses. Let’s stop focusing on the wrong things and get back to the basics: 1 plus 1 still equals two. The issue in Houston County and many other school systems around this state is simple. Add parents having real educational options to the urgency and the fortitude to address what’s broken in our system, and we get 2 – the success of our students and a vibrant workforce that is prepared and ready to compete internationally. Let’s focus on why these parents are risking so much to get every single child a quality education. We can do it and Georgia’s future is depending on it.