The education establishment has done an amazing job of creating the perfect “Emperor’s New Clothes” scenario when arguing against school choice. In the story, the emperor is fond of clothes and two “weavers” enter his capital, telling him they will create a magnificent suit for him that would be invisible to all except for the most enlightened. The weavers have the emperor and all of his subjects convinced that there is a wonderful new suit. It takes a child to shatter everyone’s delusion by shouting, “the emperor is not wearing anything at all!”
This is what is happening within almost every discussion of the school choice debate. Opponents have yelled so loudly about state aid and per pupil amounts that our focus has shifted from letting families decide what type of education is best for their students, to how we can protect the educational establishment. As we’ve asked before, is the state’s goal to fund the education of students or just fund the education system?
We should be asking real questions like:
- Why are my kids being asked for their political affiliations and their pronouns at school?
- What can we do when schools are rewriting American history?
- Are there any options when what’s being taught at school is at odds with what’s being taught at home?
- Why can’t I have a say about how my tax dollars are used to educate my child?
- Why can we use state funds for private colleges but not private high schools?
Alas, the educational establishment will keep shouting down the questions we all should be asking, while trying to convince us to cheer for the emperor’s new clothes. Learn who is not can see through the emperor’s new clothing (pun intended) and what they are doing about it.
Party platform planks are not optional. Grassley got to Go, both of them…