Neal McCluskey
@NealMcCluskey
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Director, Cato Institute's Center for Educational Freedom. Views are my own, especially on #grilling , #BBQ , or the #Hoyas ! Author, The Fractured Schoolhouse
Northern VA
Joined June 2011
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The principle is simple: If government lets people choose schools, it cannot say "choose any school EXCEPT a religious one."
That is obvious government discrimination against religion. And I'm pretty sure you are supposed to be against government discrimination.
BREAKING: The Supreme Court issued a ruling requiring Maine to fund religious education at private high schools as part of its tuition assistance program.
This is the first time the Court has explicitly required taxpayers to support religious instruction at private schools.
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Packing the court would be a bigger & socially more destructive move than filling a vacancy during an election year. The latter is normal procedure. The former is NOT.
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She's right: Public schools are about collective shaping of minds through government power.
Why we need
#schoolchoice
now.
Believe it or not, it’s not just parents who pay for public schools and not just parents who have a vested interest in public schools. Public schools are a common good designed to create an informed citizenry in a multiracial democracy — two things I know you abhor.
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Does anyone actually have a compelling argument against
#schoolchoice
? You know, just for a change of pace.
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Wrong answer
@Tommy_USA
@TerryMcAuliffe
Terry McAuliffe on school choice: "I will never allow that as governor."
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I'm seeing lots of videos of parents angrily addressing school boards, trying to get the education they think is right for their children
They should not have to go thru government boards & political war to do that. They should have
#schoolchoice
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Repaying your debt to taxpayers is not a civil rights violation.
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Who should be the next U.S. Secretary of Education? Here's the constitutional answer:
.
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If underfunding is the plan, they're not doing a very good job.
The school privatization movement is executing a plan: underfund public schools, criticize their shortcomings, and erode trust by fueling fear and division, including pitting parents against teachers. The goal? Destroy public education as we know it.
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School choice opponents: "People love public schools. No one wants school choice."
Also school choice opponents: "If people had school choice it would destroy public schooling."
Hm.
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Part of me really wants the teacher unions to keep blocking return to in-person schooling. It is the kind of real-life advertising for
#schoolchoice
money just can't buy. But it is terrible for the kids who need to be in school.
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Most private school teachers & staff were 'all in' for in-person learning LAST fall.
America’s teachers and school staff are 'all in' for in-person learning this fall.
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If you're against a school fully reopening, but you've never advocated for people to be able to choose a different school, take a seat
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"O’Rourke said that Johnson 'understood that our public school classrooms are perhaps the most perfect representation of our democracy that exists.'”
You mean segregated by housing, discriminatory against religion, & dominated by special interests?
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Oops: Wrong
Arizona’s school voucher experiment has led to a budget meltdown. The state this year faced a $1.4 billion budget shortfall, much of which was a result of the new voucher spending.
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Dear public schools: If no one leaves you, you don't lose any $. If they do leave, it means they want something else. And if you don't let them leave with the $ to educate their child, you don't intend it, but you are essentially a prison.
#Schoolchoice
is about freedom.
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Blatantly mischaracterizing "deniers" big reason climate change pronouncements sound like politics, not science
@WSJ
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West Virginia enacted private school choice this morning. Kentucky seems likely this evening or tomorrow. They would bring the number of states up to 31 plus DC, I believe.
I can remember when it was just Milwaukee and a little town-tuitioning. Still far to go, but gratifying
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Thank you private schools that have been open all year, & without massive government subsidies
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Everyone seems to want government to be for or against things.
How about we all be for government leaving people alone to make their own decisions?
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School choice comes to West Virginia with governor's signature this morning! Great news for Mountaineers -- choice should be the norm, not the exception.
The Governor has signed SB 295, SB 404, HB 2006, HB 2008, and HB 2013. View updated action of the Governor on bills here: .
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Protest rules seem like they should be easy:
1. No violence
2. No threats of violence
3. No impeding the free movement of others
4. Private property owners decide how their property is used
Stick with those, and all should be fine.
Don't, and you should be shut down.
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Really?
“We need to recognize that the state of New York has short changed public education for years.”
@andypallotta
is right. It’s time to
#FundOurFuture
.
@nysut
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People keep missing the main point of school choice:
Liberty.
Government schooling is inherently at odds with a free, diverse society.
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We may well have to cut spending and raise taxes to get out from under our gargantuan debt.
But we could start by just having people repay what they agreed to on the terms that existed when they borrowed.
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That about 90% of students are in public schools isn't very impressive when you know 100% of families have to pay for them
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You don't have to like PPP loans to be honest about them:
They were created by Congress to be forgiven as the economy was locked down at the outset of COVID.
Biden's student debt cancellation is unilateral executive action to cancel loans that were supposed to be repaid.
Congressman Clyde had $156,697 of debt forgiven from a PPP loan.
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You mean, like private schools?
Places where educators & school leaders are working together, creating trust & transparency, are more successful than places where governors trying to score ideological points ban mask mandates & bully those implementing safety protocols. More:
@AFTUnion
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If free choice kills public schools, they did not deserve to live.
School's out forever: Arizona moves "to kill public education" with new universal voucher law
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Don't worry: Now that families can choose, it wont be 90% much longer
We should be investing in public schools that 90% of students attend, not funneling resources into vouchers. So we filed an amicus brief with
@elcinfo
,
@splcenter
,
@NAACPKYSU
, & Pastors for KY Children challenging the tuition tax credit/voucher program.
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No,
#schoolchoice
is not about defunding public education. It is about basing public education in freedom & equality, and empowering families & teachers to pursue education as they see fit.
Tonight we heard over and over about ‘school choice.’ This is their way pushing to defund public ed. We heard nothing tonight about investing in the schools 90% of students attend. Nothing on reopening schools safely.Nothing on funding. It speaks volumes.
#TrumpChaos
#AFTvotes
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Education reporters, if you describe critical race theory as just something taught in law schools, you are incorrect
@alexanderrusso
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I love seeing stories about school districts opposing
#schoolchoice
. It's so obviously self-serving, like McDonald's saying, "You can't let that Chik-fil-A in here. It'll defund community fast food!"
But I like chicken...
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It's been said already, but bears repeating: No governor is "banning masks."
Some are banning mask *mandates.*
Of course, the right answer is families should be able to choose schools with policies they think best. But the AFT opposes
#schoolchoice
programs.
This is very god news. I'm glad Biden and Cardona are taking this seriously. We are in the midst of a delta surge.. Let’s keep our kids in school & safe. That’s why No Governor should be banning masks in schools.
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It never ceases to amaze me how many people, at least among the wonk class, elevate "democracy" above liberty. The former is valuable only to the extent it serves the latter.
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Most private schools were in-person LAST school year, b4 vaccines & boosters, with no evidence of major in-school transmission.
Omicron is more transmissible, but less severe. It can be done.
Of course, families & educators should be able to choose. But u keep blocking that.
Thanks to CNN for having me on this morning. We have never seen anything like Omicron before & while we are all trying to keep schools open because we know that’s important for kids,we need the safety measures like testing, well fitted masks,good ventilation, vaccines & boosters.
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Many schools - especially private - committed, & succeeded, LAST fall.
Did you not get the memo?
Schools must open this fall. In person. Five days a week. With the space and health safeguards to do so. And
@AFTunion
, is committed to making it happen.
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This is trash history that has been debunked repeatedly. See, for instance, Roman Catholics fighting for choice in the 1840s. And which group tried to de facto outlaw private schooling in the 1920s? The KKK!
Empowering people to make their own decisions is freedom.
The “school choice” movement was created by white Southern governors who were fighting the Brown decision. It was the leading edge of their fight AGAINST civil rights and equality.
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There's an easy answer for this: Kill the department. We already have a DOD and DOJ. We simply do not need a DHS
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Top 3% of U.S. taxpayers paid majority of income taxes in 2016 via
@business
Why the rich also get seemingly bigger cuts
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Why do people think libertarians are all hyper-individualists? Just because we believe in individual rights does not mean we are against being in all kinds of communities. There is abundant life between individuals & government.
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"Her old tricks."
Another trick: When you can't win on substance, attack the funders.
She’s not Secretary of Education anymore, but Betsy DeVos is up to her old tricks trying to privatize education in Michigan.
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I'm baffled by how people can act like student loan cancelation is some sort of obvious blow for justice.
People borrow for personal gain. Why should they not repay, as they agreed to do, the people who helped it happen?
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Student loan forgiveness is being presented by some folks as a racial justice or, perhaps, economic justice issue. Does it fit either one? A new analysis from the
@NewYorkFed
casts doubt.
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Pretty much no question now that schools should have largely been in-person last year:
Why we must demand that leaders who got COVID wrong admit it & apologize via
@nypost
Of course, choice was most important, but long stymied by powerful unions
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I'm guessing many right-wingers choose schools that cost way less than that. You know, like most private schools, with average tuition of $11,896, which is less than the roughly $15,000 we spend per-pupil in public schools
@Dyrnwyn
@matthewladner
@Kress_Sandy
@pastors4txkids
@ColleenDippel
@icedsweetee
@texasinsider
@JamesQuinteroTX
@GregAbbott_TX
@DadePhelan
@JasonBedrick
A voucher worth $7,000 won’t pay for the Hill School where Trump Sr. and Jr. went ($61,000) or the National Cathedral School where Glenn Youngkin sent his children ($57,000). Let me know when rightwingers support vouchers worth $50,000-60,000.
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Teachers should have a right to join a union. But families should have an equal right: to take education funding to the school of their choice. We would call that "freedom"
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You know what would help our democracy? If we did not have to engage in it for everything in our lives. Because politics far too often forces us into teams in a zero-sum game.
To preserve liberty and peace, we should resort to government as rarely as possible
#CatoSOTU
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I will never understand people who think democracy is more important than liberty.
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Anyone notice a big uptick in caricature - and straight-up demonization - of school choice supporters over the last few weeks?
I have. It's foul, but also suggests choice foes are getting desperate
The Baltimore Sun editorial board:
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The idea that school choice is about Christian nationalism is absurd.
Not only is it supported by lots of non-Christians, it's fundamentally about putting individual families - not government - in charge of what morals are or are not taught to kids.
Nothing new about “Christian Nationalism.”
It’s Fundamentalism.
What’s new is its billionaire backing.
@BetsyDeVos
, Ferris Wilks, Charles Koch are about power—not faith.
Christians have fought CN forever. And will continue to.
Especially in the upcoming voucher fight.
#txed
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No matter where you stand on Kavanaugh, you should be glad that the Supreme Court just ruled that no one should be forced to pay for public union speech like this.
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@walterolson
You see, the mattresses under which the wealthy hide their money have magical money-multiplying properties.
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School choice is right because freedom is right.
Ultimately, it comes down to that.
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Something is not a "public good" just because someone declares it is "good for the public."
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New
@AHAhistorians
report on teaching U.S. history suggests teacher bias is rare, but the figure below indicates after Trump's 2016 election, state legislatures pushed diversity studies.
At odds with the idea the Right has manufactured culture war.
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"Zero accountability"? Gimme a break.
Families able to leave schools that don't satisfy them, and take $ with them, is real, immediate accountability.
Thank you
@arizona_sos
&
@changinghands
for hosting today’s signing event!
Let’s get this referendum on the ballot & have the voters decide if they want a universal voucher program with zero accountability.
Find a place to sign here ➡️
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There are SO many Bible passages that say "give Caesar your kids!"
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Unions must no longer have so much power that their presidents are constantly on national TV. They are not elected by us & do not represent families
How do we stop them? School choice: let $ follow kids to schools families choose. Unions cannot dictate when people have freedom
Airing now in Washington, D.C. & New York City:
@rweingarten
joins
@MeetThePress
to discuss President Biden's plans to reopen schools,
#COVID19
vaccinations, and more. Follow along here with the hashtag
#ReopenSafely
.
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This may be the most important reason to support
#schoolchoice
: peace
There’s no reason to fight over the content of your kids’ lessons when you can choose your own.
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Great stuff!
Every education journalist in America needs to soak it in before writing anything implying private schools are rich & public schools poor, as we saw several times at the start of the current school year
Friends, you need to see this and share it. You can send your child to a private school for LESS money each year than the govt allocates to district schools—in **47 of the 50 states!**
LOOK👇👇👇
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Glad to see so many people recognizing that the
#Stimuluscheck
they're getting is really just their own money. Or their future selves' money. Or their kids' money. Or their future kids' money. It is NOT the generous help of any politician, including
@realDonaldTrump
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Private schools educating more than 5,200 students have already declared they are closing permanently due to the COVID-19 economy Any education relief needs to follow kids, not simply be given to public schools. Government should respect free choice
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An inability to understand how decent people can disagree with you or be different from you is the root of poisonous, destructive political & social division.
@NealMcCluskey
Any organization that fights protection of the environment and fights gun control and fights to privatize public schools, at the behest of billionaires, is vile.
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Ultimately,
#schoolchoice
is about things far more important than test scores: freedom, equality, & peace. It is about allowing people & communities to teach their ideas of the right & good without having to impose them on others. These are fundamental goods.
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This was an entirely constitutional - & hence legitimate - process, & please stop ascribing evil motives to people with whom you disagree.
Today Republicans denied the will of the American people by confirming a Supreme Court justice through an illegitimate process—all in their effort to gut the Affordable Care Act and strip health care from millions with pre-existing conditions.
We won’t forget this.
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What has perhaps been most depressing about the Dem debates has been the constant message, "you are a victim and are powerless to do anything for yourself." It is not true, and it is designed to move yet more power away from individuals and toward government
#CATO2020
#DemDebate
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Omicron may force a reminder that the right answer in education is not "schools opened" or "schools closed," but $ following children to whatever arrangement their families think is best for them.
Because people are individuals, with unique situations, concerns, and needs.
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Amazing how many private schools used them all last year for in-person learning, while so many unionized public schools said "no way."
As I have said since the earliest days of the pandemic, safety protocols are not barriers to in-person learning — they are the way back. Schools have no higher priority than protecting the lives of students and staff.
#Back2School
@nytimes
@AFTUnion
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Public schools MUST curb free speech because they MUST decide what books to stock, what to teach, how students can act, & more.
Don't like government having that power? Then you MUST support
#schoolchoice
.
When will journalists start tackling that?
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Why is it important to have "public" schools that work? Why not just schools that work? Supporting only public schools, rather than focusing on good education regardless of source, is so shortsighted
#Cato2020
#DemDebate
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School choice opponents: Stop saying choice started with southern segregationists. It is patently false & makes you look utterly disinterested in truth.
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But it would cost taxpayers $400,000,000,000 and Biden's action is patently unconstitutional.
Oh, and it would encourage even worse tuition inflation, hurting future students.
It's terrible policy and horrendous for the rule of law.
Cancelling student debt means major relief for more than 40 million borrowers.
And in Arkansas alone, one of the red states suing to block this action, more than 350k borrowers would be eligible for at least $10,000 of cancellation.
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Ridiculous: "As Toomey points out, schools will receive $128,554,800,000 in federal aid but only 5 percent of that money will be spent in fiscal year 2021"
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Pretending that public schools aren't government schools is like denying water is wet.
It is their very nature.
They aren't open to the public
They aren't accountable to the public
They aren't "public goods"
They are run by government
They are regulated by government
They're assigned by government
They are funded by government
They are compelled by government
They are government schools.
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@DeAngelisCorey
Yeah. Tons of private schools could show her how to put resources into doing it right. Of course, they have to do it right because they have to earn $ to survive
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At the very least, this calls for less outrage & condescension toward parents who reject masks for their children
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Good news: Florida schools reopened en masse, but a surge in coronavirus didn't follow, a USA TODAY analysis found via
@usatoday
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Setting aside academic achievement, the argument for or against
#schoolchoice
seems to ultimately come down to one thing: Do you favor forced, collective decision-making, or unforced, individual decisions?
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How about this compromise: we agree to spend more $ on K-12 education but it all has to follow the child to schools their parents choose. We stop making families dependent on others deciding for them.
.
@NYtimes
: "The future I fear is one in which a privileged minority of children are well educated, using private resources like tutors, private schools & home schooling, while the vast majority that depend on the public schools are left even further behind"
That's happening now.
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They just have to pay twice: Once for public schools, a second time for schools that give them what they want, including religion.
That's inequality under the law, not choice. And it needs to end.
We thank God for public schools for all children supported by all people.
Don’t be fooled by the deceptive term “school choice.” Any parent is perfectly free to private or home school their children.
It’s their choice.
Just don’t expect everyone else to pay for it.
#txlege
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This is incorrect. See, for instance, Catholics in the 1840s calling for choice to get non-hostile education
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Justice was served with
#JanusvAFSCME
ruling. If you want support for your speech, it must come voluntarily. Simple principle, needed to be upheld.
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Free society requires free communities. Free communities require free minds. Free minds require freedom in education.
#Schoolchoice
now!
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The side-stepping of the question is silly, but the fact is no one needs permission of the White House to reopen schools. Let's stop acting like they do.
CNN: "Does the president feel that teachers have to be vaccinated in order for schools to open safely - yes or no?"
VP Spokesperson: "The president believes that teachers should be prioritized for vaccination... the First Lady is a teacher..."
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Families should not be at the mercy of this.
School choice now.
BREAKING: All seven members of the Chicago Board of Education have announced they will resign. This is unprecedented.
The move comes after weeks of heavy pressure from Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Chicago Teachers Union, demanding board members do two things ⬇️
1. Issue a
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This makes no sense.
In vouchers, money NEVER “follows the child.”
Money ALWAYS follows the adult profiting from the child.
#txlege
House knows this, which is why they overwhelmingly defeat vouchers session after session. By largest margin yet last session.
@chiproytx
@DadePhelan
@GregAbbott_TX
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@nhannahjones
Setting aside that schools do not meet the technical definition of "public good" - non-excludable & non-rivalrous - neither roads nor even police are about something as monumental as shaping human minds. There's huge danger in having government power over that.
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Well, no. Those "rights," which public schools often fail to uphold, only apply to public schools, to which people who take vouchers can return.
Vouchers give families something much more powerful than flimsy paper promises: control of the $! They can stand up for themselves.
When children in SpecEd go to a voucher school, they abandon their federal civil rights protections. Don’t fall for the voucher
#hoax
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We would be heading to public college monopolies with all direct funding from government. So long, meaningful choice & relatively dynamic, innovative higher ed.
In the 21st century, twelve years of school isn’t enough. That’s why under the Biden-Harris plan, community college will be free — and public colleges and universities will be tuition-free for families earning less than $125,000 a year.
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By all means, let the full amount spent per-pupil in public schools follow kids. Nationally, that is much more than average private school tuition. Around $12K for tuition, approaching $16K for public schools
With most vouchers, the cost of tuition/fees at private schools exceeds the amount of the voucher, continuing to make private schools unaffordable for low-income families and only subsidizing the private school education of high-income families.
@PaLegis
@PaHouseDems
@PAHouseGOP
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Vouchers help kids by helping families leave schools dominated by special interests such as unions.
Vouchers hurt kids and communities by taking resources away from the public schools so many working families rely on.
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I know a lot of libertarians, and they aren't saying this.
Libertarians: “Government mandates are wrong. But there’s nothing wrong with the Government forcing Corporations to force their employees.”
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