Our reader Laura Chapman explains what the phrase “the money follows the child” really means. It’s another way of saying that every child should have “a backpack full of cash” strapped on them, to be spent anywhere. Another way to see it is as a jackhammer to destroy our democratically-controlled system of public schools and turn children over to the tender mercies of the free market. The billionaires—the Waltons, Bloomberg, Koch, Gates, Broad, Hastings, Anschutz, Sinquefeld—love the free market. They think it’s best for everyone.
Chapman writes:
The new phrase for money-follows-the-child policies favored by those who want privatized education is this:
We have a “pluralistic system of education.” That phrase is already being used in promote subsidized choice, with everyone eligible for federal funds and expansion of state-level choice programs.
Pluralistic education means that the great American way to educate children will support–
homeschoolers,
free-lance education service providers,
charter schools,
private schools,
religious schools,
traditional public schools,
online instructional delivery,
pay-for-success ventures,
specialty programs for the talented and those in need of therapeutic support (whether in homes, commercial facilities, or brick and mortar schools).
and other possibilities.
In this pluralistic system, market forces and innovative forms of instruction flourish, unimpeded by regulation. Federal subsidies are “fair” when money follows the student.
Proponents claim that all of these flavors of education can and should be subsidized with public funds, eithe in proportion to their market share or their performance on the optional “normative pluralistic standards and curriculum.”
Examples of optional “normative pluralistic standards” are those present in current federal and state legislation, in national campaigns for standards and tests such as those launched to support the “Common Core State Standards,” and the proliferation of rating schemes such as those at GreatSchools.org, US News and World Reports, and EdWeek’s “Chance of Success” reports.
This Pluralism R-US meme is being promoted by EdChoice, the organization once known as the Milton & Rose Friedman Foundation, also Jeb Bush and his Chiefs for Change organization, and scholars.
Key scholars are at the Walton funded University of Arkansas Department of Education Reform; Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes; the University of Washington Bothell’s Center on Reinventing Public Education; Harvard University’s Program on Education Policy and Governance; and Johns Hopkins School of Education Institute for Education Policy.
For a brief look at the rationale for this meme and the policy agenda see
“Pluralism in American School Systems,” https://edpolicy.education.jhu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/PluralismBrief-Jan2018.pdf
For a look at other promotions, see this recent 74 Million.org call for the use of stimulus money for “all types of schools.”
Often the “backpack full of cash” is inadequate to pay for the needs of students that needs specialized services such as special education or ESL. That is why these students cannot fairly compete when they are tossed into the market. Private charters know these students require more intensive, specialized instruction which makes them more expensive to educate. That is why there is an under representation of these students in private charters. The schools avoid selecting these more expensive students, and they may only accept a few of them that are already higher performing. The more money they spend on education reduces their profit margin.
when “profit” is the underlying agenda, actual education is secondary
Exactly. When the “money follows the child” to a voucher school or a charter school, any of that money that is not spent on the kid goes into private profits. So, the incentive built into such a system is to spend as little as possible on the student and school. No theatre, no gym, no athletic fields, no art or science supplies, no library, no librarian, no nurse, no classroom novels, low teacher pay, cheap (and dangerous) furnishings. Cars and planes and fancy offices and high salaries for the owner and his or her ne’er-do-well cousins, golfing buddies, mistresses or misters, etc.
Greed exists. It is up to the parent to select the best private school for their child. It is the parents job to educate his child. Not a school. A parent must select the school that fits the parent’s end game for his child. Yes, some high schools attract quarterbacks. What do you want for your child?
Choose any school you want. The state pays for public schools that are open to all. If you want a private school, pay for it yourself. Should I pay for your child to go to a private school that would not admit my children?
Public education must change. A parent should have the right to have his tax money go to his choice school for his child. Those paying no tax should have a basic public education provided. Currently the private school parent is paying for both. Some proposals even fund low income parents so they can send their kids to private schools. WRONG. That charges some parents paying for THREE phases of education. Businesses should take part in educating the secondary student with work-study programs. College prep courses should target only those looking for liberal college subjects. Businesses should educate the workforce student- those looking for specific skills such as those tech schools provide.
Every state constitution mandates a free public education system. None mandates public support for private schools.
I don’t know why your child is not admitted. The question is should I have to pay for a school open to public if I choose not to use it? Why should I pay twice? The public system served its purpose when everybody used it. That is no longer the case and with good reason. Suppose your public school was teaching curriculum you hated? Please think about this. That is what is happening in woke schools now. I cannot support teaching this to elementary kids! Can you? If you do, I now understand your leftist agenda.
I have a gay son. He’s an adult now. Why should I pay taxes to schools that would deny him admission? Public schools are NOT WOKE. Unless you mean that they teach tolerance and good citizenship. They do not teach hatred. They do not teach racism. They do not teach that boys are superior to girls. They do not teach that some religious groups are evil. They teach children to interact with other children who are different from them.
That’s what you mean by WOKE.
If you want your child to attend a school that teaches students to hate Black kids, gay kids, kids who are different from them, please don’t ask taxpayers to pay for your prejudices.
All those kids you mentioned are welcome at the private schools I have observed in my hometown. Since parents of those kids pay taxes too, those schools should have the money follow their child if they so choose. It sounds as though you have an ax to grind. I don’t expect you to explain that. I’m just trying to be fair. Let my money educate my child as I wish, where I wish. Do you fault this? Why? We are Christian. We condemn no one.
Use your money to pay for your child’s education. Don’t expect other taxpayers to pay for your private choice. Do you want a private security guard paid for by taxpayers? Do you want a private swimming pool paid for by taxpayers? Do you think that people who don’t have children should not pay school taxes?
The Founding Fathers believed in separation of church and state. Too bad you don’t agree with them.
Why do all of the “public school advocates” lump Magnet School with “traditional public schools”? They are public choice!!! see http://www.magnet.edu