School choice scares Dems and their teachers' union allies

John Kass:

What Republicans offered those parents on the RNC opening night was this:

School choice, to allow Black and brown families a chance to escape the big-city public schools that have failed their kids for decades.

"I don't care if it's a public, private, charter, virtual or a home school," said South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, a Black Republican, in his stirring speech. "When a parent has a choice, a kid has a better chance."

Just then I thought I heard heads exploding among liberal pundits and the bosses of the teachers' unions, the ground troops of the modern Democratic Party. They just hate that social media #WalkAway campaign by Democratic voters who've decided to leave the party.

Trump's critics in the Democratic Media Complex along the Washington Beltway loathe his voters for rejecting their liberal wisdom. This blinds them and causes them to underestimate Trump.

It might surprise them to know that parents may care more about their children's education than political ideology.

Many Black parents know they've been taken for granted by the Democrats for decades. They look for a chance to walk away.

Hispanic parents may have resentment toward Trump over the immigration issue, but in Chicago at least, many take advantage of charter schools -- a testament to the fact that traditional public schools don't work for them.

And those swing voters among suburban soccer moms have already identified themselves as somewhat guilty about their status, perhaps one reason for those hate-has-no-home-here signs in front lawns.

They all want a reason to feel good about themselves when they vote. And they all have this in common. They're parents.

Will school choice work as a bridge from Republicans to those parents? I don't know.

The left's cancel culture is indeed powerful. Voters fear being mocked, which may explain the rise of those defining themselves as "undecided."

But optimism, rather than fear, will give them a place to stand as the election draws near. And school choice is all about optimism.

Another school-choice advocate speaking on the RNC opening night was Rebecca Friedrichs, the California public school teacher who fought her union's ability to take dues from teachers who oppose their union's politics.

Friedrichs said teachers' unions continue "trapping so many precious, low-income children in dangerous, corrupt and low-performing schools."

Another was Georgia Democratic state Rep. Vernon Jones, a Black man, who lauded school choice as a chance for Black voters to walk away.

"The Democratic Party does not want Black people to leave the mental plantation they've had us on for decades," Jones said. "But I have news for them: We are free people with free minds."
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The teachers; union deserves this move with their absurd demands for returning to work after the COVID shutdown.  They have no moral standing to demand anything at this point.  School choice would also force public schools to compete on the basis of actually providing a good education.