Students Finally Winning The School Choice Fight

Dozens of states expanded school choice in the last two years, allowing more students to leave government-run schools.
But David Walrod, the president of a teachers' union in Fairfax, Virginia, says the new school choice programs are harmful.
We debate.
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Many kids have good reasons to leave government-run schools. Such schools often needlessly shut down for Covid, and stayed closed for two years. Some indoctrinate kids. Many leave bad teachers on the job. Many spend absurd amounts of money. (Fairfax, Virginia, schools spend more than $300k per classroom.)
But Walrod says that school choice will create too many different schools, and duplicate wasteful bureaucracies.
You can watch our debate in the video above.

[@kinjunranger140]

"Innovation isn't a good thing in education". That dude should be immediately fired, but instead, he'll be given a raise.

[@fredflintstone4715]

Give him a break, he went to public school...

[@bvegannow1936]

Ban: mandatory school, gov control over education and curriculum, hsd and ged requirements, public school, directly tax funding schools. Let kids learn job skills and work instead

[@tracybarhite1764]

He'll be allowed to "teach" children for the next 20 - 30 years.

[@holycrapchris]

That's not a quote, at least not from this video.

[@ameliam7898]

@@holycrapchris 3:30 mark

[@crbondur]

YES!!! So glad that parents are finally figuring out that public funds should follow the CHILDREN, not the schools.

[@bvegannow1936]

Ban: mandatory school, gov control over education and curriculum, hsd and ged requirements, public school, directly tax funding schools. Let kids learn job skills and work instead

[@brownman304]

@@bvegannow1936 for a permanent working class?

[@chris4231]

@@brownman304 What we have now is a permanent working class with zero money skills. It's time for a change.

[@nova31337]

@@brownman304 public education grooms students to be working drones (I went through the public school system). There is so much important information that should be taught in schools that aren't. The simplest and most important is money skills like @Chris4321 mentioned. If people could learn how to manage their finances from an early age, we'd have far less people dependent on paycheck-to-paycheck employment.

[@nova31337]

@@brownman304 also, there are several fields out there that don't require certain levels of schooling. Many could be learning skills while on the job if a student wished to apprentice under someone, but right now everyone is required by law to go through the square-peg-must-be-rounded-to-fit-round-hole machine.

[@KendraAndTheLaw]

Fight the teachers' unions. And never give up.

[@brandonkenney6310]

I especially liked the part where Stossel was challenged to teach in a classroom by the unions. He accepted the challenge, and then they withdrew the offer.

[@gbrown3783]

Where is that?

[@brandonkenney6310]

@@gbrown3783 At about 1:32 in the video is where it starts, then concludes at about 1:49.

[@gbrown3783]

Oh I dk how I missed that thanks

[@glasshalffull2930]

I thought that was a little strange too. When I got out of college, I ended up substituting for about a quarter of a school year because a teacher went out sick. It was very challenging, but I really enjoyed it. This was back in the 1980s and I used to joke that it was 85% crowd control and 15% teaching. LOL, I cannot imagine what it is like to teach now.

[@alaingarcia4756]

Abolish the Department of Education it's not constitutional.

[@republicoftexas3261]

Not to mention a complete disaster

[@lunaredelvour2972]

"Competition makes things better" "Isn't that good for schools?" "Not for education" That says enough to me. Homeschooling it is

[@connordrake5713]

No wonder why students aren't competitive nor learning anymore. 😔

[@tomasgomez9925]

Woke people be like: “Competition is racist”

[@finsmith8443]

His voice tellz me enough... He's a groomer

[@extremeresponsibility4325]

Great. Parents can move children out of the school who force students to be trans and teachers dressed in drag.

[@ericsimonson8540]

That Fairfax guy doesn’t even understand the simple concept of competition and why it’s good. They’re just protecting themselves, end of story…

[@za-jm8wf]

Unions should not be allowed in public funded institutions

[@JG-np1qg]

Wow that public school spokesman said a lot of stupid.

[@mathrocks7591]

The teacher’s union is corrupt. Now maybe they will teach Math, English and Science not CRT

[@zg-it]

They don't know those things LOL, these teachers are all taught in government schools how to be teachers.

[@marshmower]

CRT should only mean cathode ray tube.

[@thegeneralist7527]

@@marshmower And both are obsolete...Lol!

[@zg-it]

@@marshmower I fire up a CRT to play old light gun games on my Sega Master system. Ironically, when the CRT TV turns on, it emits a high-pitched noise that my nieces and nephews can't stand. So, the kids are wise to how dumb and out of touch CRT is LOL.

[@bvegannow1936]

Ban: mandatory school, gov control over education and curriculum, hsd and ged requirements, public school, directly tax funding schools. Let kids learn job skills and work instead

[@eddymdr]

Can someone get that Union teacher a trimmer?! How does he talk without getting hair in his mouth? 😂

[@republicoftexas3261]

I was hoping it filter out some of the BS, but I was disappointed.

[@Zach-ju5vi]

Maybe a brain too while we are at it.

[@SpazBates]

As a parent who took their child out of public school and put him into a charter school all I can say is....charter is the way to go! A world of difference.

[@alleistervoosen473]

Minneapolis resident here. We used to have great education here. Now it's a friggin mess. It's full of Marxists and other authoritarians. When the guy said "incentivized collaboration", my skin crawled. He means coercion, but he's not even honest enough to say it.

[@1970bosshemi]

I live for the day the teachers unions cough out a last breath.

[@bvegannow1936]

Ban: mandatory school, gov control over education and curriculum, hsd and ged requirements, public school, directly tax funding schools. Let kids learn job skills and work instead

[@bobroberts2581]

I live for the day that states do right for responsible tax payers as tell parents “no more welfare handouts: if you can’t afford to educate your child we’ll place it with a parent that can, whom you will pay child support to.”

[@bvegannow1936]

@@bobroberts2581 theres over 100,000+ us kids up for adoption, and additionally tons of kids on welfare. Theres not enuf parents that r able and willing to adopt all the kids who r on welfare or up for adoption in usa. Kids can get a better education than k thru 12 via library and internet, which can cost about $30/m.

[@jaxjax2011]

NAPS is worse

[@Joshpower57]

Administrators and unions are what kills education.

[@bvegannow1936]

Ban: mandatory school, gov control over education and curriculum, hsd and ged requirements, public school, directly tax funding schools. Let kids learn job skills and work instead

[@JeffreyMoon1974]

Almost 40 years ago, my parents noticed that most of the high school teachers in our district sent their children to PRIVATE schools. That was enough reason for them to send me there, too. It made a huge difference for me, especially knowing that the high school almost lost its accreditation in the late 80s.

[@dampierstucco5778]

Our local high school lost its accreditation a few years back for a year or so but being in rural south GA there were no private schools in the county for those that wanted to send their kids else where to do such. And the local voters put the idiots back on the school board that allowed it to happen. A lot of folks with kids left town. I work 4 counties over now and bring my kid with me so I can keep him out of that mess of a school system. I feel so bad for the kids that are stuck in it and mad when I paid my property taxes because of how they are being wasted.

[@alexshtyn6336]

We have school choice in my country there are private schools but a select few because there is no need . Public schools once you can choose become quite good.

[@JohnSmith-zw8vp]

Don't forget about our LEADERS who hypocritically sent their kids to the best private schools possible.

[@queenbeee3172]

In 2020. I chose to homeschool. My kids did so well that we continue to homeschool. They have plenty of peers from different groups that they are involved in to keep them very social. For us it's a win-win.

[@bmoturtleco]

As someone who works in public education, I advise all parents who will listen to homeschool or send their kids to a private school. Public schools have nothing to do with actual education anymore. Kids will be better off if they never step foot in a public school. Our system is broken and needs to be dramatically updated and improved.

[@JakubKieblesz]

The system is broken due to capitalism. Get it right.

[@JakubKieblesz]

Public education is the best when it is adequately funded and taken care of, unlike private education that only seeks to maximise profits at the expense of proper education.

[@bmoturtleco]

@@JakubKieblesz hahaha. Nothing you said is backed by actual facts. Capitalism is the best due to its ability to make everyone equal. Public schools do so much worse due to their mismanagement of funds and inability to teach actual education. Public schools get a massive amount of funding yet perform at the lowest in evaluations. Private schools only get funding when they perform at expected levels or higher thus their scores are traditionally better. Public education was put in place to take the rights of parents away and to indoctrinate the youth. The quality of education has barley improved despite receiving massive funding and countless required curriculum changes. The entire point of public education is not the betterment of society but the manipulation and forced indoctrination of young and naive minds. It's the same with religions, if you wait until people can think on their own there's no way religions would survive. Once people understand what our education system is doing, they snap out of it usually and realize that public education and so called higher learning are not beneficial they are harmful and should be eradicated.

[@Cdaragorn]

@@JakubKieblesz Provide some actual evidence and maybe we'll see some reason to listen to this nonsense. As it is the evidence is overwhelming that competition (capitalism) makes education tons better. Like it or not having profit as a motivator is NOT actually a bad thing.

[@Cdaragorn]

@@JakubKieblesz Wrong. It seeks to maximize profits. To do so it MUST provide better education than those it's competing against. This idea that profit is an evil motivator is selfish and stupid. All evidence shows profit is a GREAT motivator WHEN there is competition.

[@FilamentFriday]

This sums it up for me: “If I am competing against you, then I have a vested interest in doing better than you” John: But isn’t that good? “Not in Education” I wish John would have had him explain that more because that makes no sense to me.

[@mustang607]

He should've said, "Not in Indoctrination"

[@Cdaragorn]

I completely agree with you. It doesn't make sense to you because there's nothing to make sense of. He didn't answer the question. He just sat there and insisted John was wrong like some 2 yr old sticking his thumbs in his ears and chanting stupidities in the false belief that saying something enough will somehow make it true. This is the problem with trying to reason with someone in a monopolized system. They never want the monopoly to be bad because it makes them feel safe knowing they have a guaranteed job/income/safety net.

[@truthhub4625]

“Not in Education” - Translation: "Not good for *ME* because *I* am in Education."

[@photofinish8607]

@@Cdaragorn Capitalism is a designed system, to tear people apart. To compete and fight for earnings. It will NEVER be a good thing.

[@abetterfuture4787]

His argument was that there should be collaboration rather than competition. The problem is there is no such thing as collaborating with parasitic organizations like unions. They don't exist to collaborate and improve, they only exist to leach from the system.

[@vasyak9264]

We need this in California!!

[@elcocoreyes]

Yet they continue to tax everyone, regardless if their kids attend public schools.

[@robertolson4944]

After spending 39 years in public education, I agree that Unions are part of the problem. They have helped increase the earnings of teachers at the cost of the ability to fire incompetent teachers. The AFT in our nation’s schools is a good example of this. Our salary schedules do not reward hard work and dedication. The result is mediocrity.

[@tracybarhite1764]

The result is bad teachers being allowed to teach for 30 years, and the 100's of children who have skill gaps that sometimes never get addressed.

[@Jimbojoebob]

The school unions ARE the problem not part of it.

[@LAHCAH]

Same in UAW

[@Lostcontroller]

It's basically communism.

[@Xckel13]

I don't think teachers are making such high earnings at this point though. We have a bunch of administrators getting all our public school dollars, teachers underpaid, and nonsensical top down, one size fits all education mandates that ignore that kids are actually people and not cogs. The unions are part of the problem, only that they strip away the goal of why teachers go into the profession.

[@aryaprincess2479]

"Competition forces me to be better" "Isn't that good for schools?" "Not for -education- indoctrination"

[@boyishdude1234]

That's all public education ever has been. It's designed to indoctrinate kids to serve and obey the government, not to teach them anything useful. There's a reason why you don't learn or practice critical thinking skills in public schools, and why classes that do teach those things in college are optional electives. The government and the highest classes don't want people to be able to think for themselves. Critical thinking and reasoning skills ought to be taught and practiced starting as early as the first grade, and have those things continue to be taught and practiced with gradually increasing complexity with each grade level up through the 12th grade. I don't like the idea of using force to teach kids those things, but if we start teaching our kids how to think critically, rationally and independently, our society will be far better off and much more intelligent.

[@user-bf1li9wf9l]

Not for job security

[@sallymcmurray949]

Now we need to get rid of the Dept of Education

[@DRAKKENFIRE22]

I am glad to hear school choice is gaining ground. Another victory for parents.

[@palaceofwisdom9448]

Union teachers are almost impossible to fire due to their contract. Why are bureaucrats given a total free pass for agreeing to those terms anew every several years?

[@bvegannow1936]

Ban: mandatory school, gov control over education and curriculum, hsd and ged requirements, public school, directly tax funding schools. Let kids learn job skills and work instead

[@OldmanJM]

Because the Unions support the politicians financially, that's why.

[@richardangers2566]

When a state has over 7%? 8% as members of public service unions, the often swing the elections. But you cannot complain about the group seeking after their own groups power.

[@josealexi5141]

YT keeps censoring my posts: search for teachers union political donations. 66 million dollars in just 2020

[@AmigaWolf]

One simple reason, because of Government. If parents were really smart and thought about there children, they would do Home Schooling. The real reason we have most of the problems, is because of the propaganda factory's called Public Schools, owned by the government, wake up people, everything they own and do is bad, bad for everyone but themselves.

[@garygrant9612]

My teenage grandaughter is being home schooled for the first time. The distractions by other students and the lack of good teachers who cant control or teach well, is the problem.

[@User9681e]

Just make sure she's socially active too As that's definitely not less important then education

[@fortusvictus8297]

Demographics are everything. A teacher who is extremely adept at teaching a content area may not be able to handle a classroom of 25 students with 2 highly disruptive students. Conversely, a teacher who can lock a class down and has GREAT classroom management, may not have much time or space in the class left for effective teaching or addressing individual students needs.

[@jbdragon3295]

@@User9681e By brother and his wife have been home schooling their 2 girls since day one. One just finished High School level I think. Hone Schooling these days does including getting together all the time for activity’s with other home schooled kids. That is pretty normal unless your family lives in the middle of nowhere.

[@francisdhomer5910]

@@jbdragon3295 I can't remember where I read it or heard it so maybe you can answer this question. Homeschooled children only need three or four hours a day and do better than kids in Public School. Do you know if this is true? Also since those two girls are not going to public school that means the school don't need the money they receive. How about your brother and his wife get half of the money each year. So something like $20,000 to $30,000 would be a nice amount for them to teach their kids, take them on field trips, get top of the line computers and software and maybe a bunch of other things to help with education. Oh and a membership to the Y for socialization and gym, other wonderful things to help them learn. OK shut up Frank you know you can go all day talking about what parents can do homeschooling.

[@jbdragon3295]

@@francisdhomer5910 Kids are generally further along homeschooled because you can go at the kids pace, not the class pace. Homeschooling your own kids doesn’t cost $20-30k. Only if you sent your kids to a private school as you would have to pay for that. Unless your state had a voucher system, but you don’t get that much to pay for a private school. You know the government isn’t going to give you money if you take your kids out of school. I have no kids and yet I pay the same property taxes as those around me with kids. A large percentage of property taxes goes to schools.

[@chesspwn7457]

My mom is a teacher and she's always complaining about all the mandates places on her how to run her class. She would love for school choice to continue to grow and reach her area so she can teach without spending half her day grading tests

[@eliezercruz3679]

My daughter has learned more these past 4 weeks at her new school than she did the last two years in Fairfax County Public School system. It is teacher centered not student centered. Starting with the previous Superintendent, it is more politics and activism than actual learning.

[@plantfeeder6677]

All these years and still one of the best consumer advocates in American history. Thank you John Stossel

[@creativitysubs9935]

It's kinda sad. You'd think the democrats would have at least one equal consumer advocate. But they don't. At least not anymore.

[@josealexi5141]

@@creativitysubs9935 waaaaaay back in the day, Stossel _WAS_ a Democrat and aired on ABC. That's before the MSM and Democrats went loony.

[@ILovePancakes24]

Arizona is about to step ahead of everyone else educationally. A giant leap

[@tracybarhite1764]

Thank you Governor Ducey!

[@jason200912]

A great leap forward.

[@chaosgyro]

One small step for voters. One giant leap for voters' children.

[@lainiwakura1776]

@@jason200912 Oh god, don't call it that, Mao ruined that phrase.

[@jason200912]

@@lainiwakura1776 his fault for calling it a giant leap

[@colinklang]

My parents worked their butts off to send my sister and I to a private school. Even growing up it was pretty clear to me that the education I received was better than the education my public school friends were receiving. I didn't realize the full scope of the situation until I was older and found out how much money gets dumped into public education. My school ran on a shoestring budget and relied on fundraising for support. It still does. Yet they are able to provide a much better education accompanied by strong moral and character development at a fraction of the cost. Parents pay taxes and they should be able to choose where that tax money goes for their children's education. It's as simple as that.

[@AR-sb5yc]

Thankfully more states came to realization that choice is always better in any field, especially choices in education.

[@Ston247]

My parents fought like hell to keep me out of high crime, underperforming schools. I did very well as a result.

[@MrZoomah]

Problem is that school choice creates these schools. In Australia we never had high crime schools. 25 years ago there was a silent campaign to get parents to go private. Now 1 in 3 kids go to private schools. As the ratio of well off families in some schools increased, the ratio in public schools decreased. When disadvantaged kids make up 50% of a school they become nearly impossible to run due to a lack of positive role models for kids to copy. As Australia has moved to private education our academics have fallen. I attended my local high school. It was considered one of the worst in my city yet most kids succeeded. We had maybe 5% of kids who were challenging. 20 years later the area we live in has more affluent families but that same school has a higher ratio of disadvantaged kids. It's a much harder school. The top education system in the world has zero choice. If you're rich or poor you have to send your kids to your local public school.

[@SB-fl9lh]

@@MrZoomah if it is true school choice than all the parents have the ability to remove their kids from the failing school not just the wealthy kids Going to a private school. Basically you could start a business educating students and they would come to your school. So it is hard to believe that an option of private publicly funded schools would be the only cause of degradation of the other school.

[@MrZoomah]

@@SB-fl9lh What people forget is that the ability to pay for the school isn't the only barrier to school choice. Poor families work longer hours and have less access to transport. School buses serve a local area and you can't expect a school to send transport for one or two children. As to my local school, given local wealth has increased, student numbers have fallen yet the ratio of disadvantaged to strong families has increased shows something is going on. Why can't disadvantaged families, who care just as much for their children, get their kids to a different school? Why do disadvantaged families not send their child 30minutes - 1 hour from home to go to the same schools as the other students? It's transport. Then we can ask why don't affluent families send their kids to the local public school? First reason is people have been tricked into thinking private schools give a better education while, in Australia, all research points to them doing the same job for more money. The second issue is that in school choice reputation is everything. When people think of which school to choose they will type it into google. If you type the school I talked about into google you get a page of news headlines from one incident in 2007. I would say this is a big reason why affluent families wouldn't send their kids there. This is why private schools have media managers and social media managers. Looking good is more important than academics. Also, reputation is the reason why these schools refuse to take kids with ADHD, PTSD or other disabilities. Foster children in my state can attend private schools but most get refused. Schools aren't legally allowed to refuse them but they can claim they don't have the resources to help them. Some of these kids come with up to $60k of funding on top of their school fees and government payments but schools know that one bad incident can ruin their school. This again concentrates the disadvantage into public schools.

[@mike-cc3dd]

@@MrZoomah Australias private schools are so governed by the government they are basically expensive public schools

[@MrZoomah]

@@mike-cc3dd I would agree with that in terms of the curriculum. All schools are required to adhere to the Australia curriculum. How they do it is up to them. I would also say it's a two way street. Government has a lot of control over private education through curriculum, but private education (mainly the rich, prestigious ones) have control over education policy and where money goes. The fact that the the Gonski scheme was never implemented for fear of the backlash from private education is a testament to this. The main difference is public schools have to help all students, private schools can get rid of them or refuse access to the school.

[@ruthlessreid9172]

That union leader sounds and looks like a lunatic.

[@pbjae8140]

As a retired RN, I had to be culturally sensitive to every culture I interacted with. Throughout my life, I used math, science, and nursing education to save lives. I do not believe I would have been a better nurse if I was forced to learn how I was an oppressor while I was respectfully caring for the health and nursing care needs of patients regardless of their cultures.

[@alekseymel7852]

My daughter goes to charter school in South Florida. Absolutely best decision I have ever made. Thank god I live in the state that gave me a choice.

[@hieug.rection1920]

I put my kid in a well rated charter school and I couldn’t be more happy. My 5 year old was reading and writing in kindergarten. He’s reading at a 4th grade level in first grade and doing math I don’t recall doing until second grade. He knows history and science and has never had to wear a mask or interact with blue haired lunatics or lunatics in drag. Best choice I made for his future.

[@connordrake5713]

Not only for his future but also the future of America. I feel really bad for those children who are taught by blue hair teacher with LGBTQIA stuff and sex too. 😔 They're sexualizing the children and it's sick.

[@lesliepage3886]

My daughter is above grade level in reading and one year ahead in math in her charter. She learns science and the charter is history based, so they learn many things especially around the constitution. And she knew the pledge of allegiance at 5 plus Lee Greenwood’s hid bless the USA by heart.

[@jeanniejooni3474]

🥰🥰🥰

[@godshealed9093]

Amen

[@MrCyclingobsession]

They should really find a way to outlaw the alphabet teachers!

[@RabidNemo]

To me there's no valid reason to not support school choice. I had a liberal friend say to me that it just takes money away from schools but if they're failing then it's no different than if the kid was enrolled somewhere else. My neighbors pay $20,000 a year for their daughter to be in private school here in Seattle yet the Seattle public school system spends more than $20,000 per student per year so I don't see any reason why you shouldn't get a check for the exact amount that the school would spend if she was enrolled in public school it's not as if they would be told that there's no funding

[@elultimo102]

How much of this relative fortune goes for the children, vs. the thousands of bureaucrats?

[@CowCommando]

The teachers union at the school where I work campaigned hard against school choice. They didn't want us to lose all our funding. I kept thinking, "doesn't that mean you agree that we are a worse option than the private schools in our area? If we're the amazing option you keep saying we are, then we should have nothing to be afraid of." The public schools are failing in my state, and that has lead to increased mandates from the DOE that we must follow to maintain funding. There was an amazing teacher that I had as a student. I was thrilled to be working as an aid in his classroom a few years ago and then devastated to see how the quality of his teaching had been destroyed by the restrictive mandates. He was retiring because between the behavior of the students and the mandates restricting his ability to teach, it no longer held any joy for him. I'll never forget his response when another teacher asked him what he wanted to do with his time. He said, "I want to teach! . . . but not like this." It broke my heart to see one of the most enthusiastic and effective teachers I ever had say that about teaching.

[@oneanddonetzone3673]

My friend lives in Wisconsin and they said that they have started absolutely crazy rhetoric about school choice. Governor Tony Evers is propped up by the teachers unions and for all the money that they’re spending WISCONSIN and Student seem to be slipping way far behind it’s really kind of embarrassing for the state!

[@sethlavinder]

WV is in a battle for this now! Keep praying it works out! Thankfully our AG is fighting to make it happen!

[@danielawilliams5988]

👍

[@lainiwakura1776]

Writing to your state legislature might work better.

[@RBoas]

My first two children went to public school. My last went to a private school. The difference in the quality of the education was night and day. We need more affordable options for people.

[@connordrake5713]

It's so horrible how it is same here in the Philippines. We've copy every American education system and ironically we have the same problem today too.

[@asdisskagen6487]

I went back to school to get a degree in education so that I knew enough about learning theory to homeschool my grandchildren. I saw this coming years ago.

[@SSingh-nr8qz]

Honest question for Teacher Unions: If my school is poorly managed, what options does my kid have for a better education?

[@garrettjones9246]

Having been a teacher in both public and private school, I can honestly say I was not a fan of the teachers unions… they made a big presentation about how awesome they were, but when I needed them, they wouldn’t help me… I had a student who threatened me in front of my class; admin wouldn’t remove the student, and the union wouldn’t stand up for me, but they were still willing to take money out of my paycheck whether I was a member or not.

[@mintymus]

Typical union. Unfortunately, this is how unions almost always work.

[@ColoradoDreamin]

I taught k-5 for 10 years, and was the only teacher that wouldn’t join the Union and advocated for school choice. However, I had to keep it quiet, only a few close colleagues knew my positions because they were overwhelming against my positions. My fav day was when our admin let many teachers stay home from work, because they were so emotionally distraught over Trump being elected. Insanity.

[@francisdhomer5910]

WOW! I really mean it. WOW! I believe you, it's just so unbelievable that you get to stay home because you are upset over an election. Hell in one company I worked for I was only allowed three days off when my dad died. Yet teachers get to stay home because their candidate lost? What would they have done if Trump lost, and a supermajority ended up in both the Senet and House? Close the school?

[@apexandfortnite2956]

Get rid of teachers unions!

[@GrammarPoliceInvestigations]

As a parent of a student in Massachusetts that has school choice, I am over the moon that I am able to send my child to the best school system. I removed my daughter from our hometown schools which are not good performing and send her to a regional School district a half an hour away to have a better education. Both her and her money left my Town's education system and they deserve the loss.

[@chipanndale1468]

The pandemic, and the teachers union, public school( they are one and the same) reaction to it was the best thing to happen to school choice . On line learning allowed parents access to what was actually happening in the classroom that they've never had before. A red pill moment that woke up so many parents.

[@tuckerbugeater]

Online learning is the future. Everyone isolated to stop resistance to their scheme.

[@francisdhomer5910]

And it showed that homeschooling works

[@cindyrose4155]

Thank you, John. I live in Arizona, and since I moved here, parents have been able to choose public school or a charter school at no cost to them. When my teenage daughter would come home every day upset from high school, I found her an online high school that was local, she was able to go in for one on one schooling whenever needed, and she graduated with her diploma by 16 1/2 years old. The school she attended even had a program to start them off on their college degree, by the time she finished what would have been her four years at high school, she had a two-year degree from college as well. This is truly a win-win for all families.

[@yolacintia]

I'm in AZ, what program was it? My daughter is starting high school next year

[@cindyrose4155]

@@yolacintia Humanity and Science in Tempe. Not sure if it’s still there, my daughter is now 31 years old. If it is still there……excellent school!

[@44beebe]

Things I should have learned about in public school but didn't....1. How taxes work ....2. How local government works (city council, planning and zoning, school boards etc.) 3. How my state government works.....3. What the stock market is and how it works...4. Basic personal finance

[@lisarand9701]

Here in the area where I live school of choice was instituted over twenty years ago.I immediately put my daughters in the best school district and it was worth it, even though it meant I drove them way across town and into the countryside to and from school every day. It has forced all schools in this area to step it up and offer a better education to compete for students.

[@kevinclause4p55p5]

school is cruel and unusual punishment.

[@GeekIWG]

The first time I saw videos from John Stossel was in an economics class run by my local homeschool support group. I'm very thankful to have been homeschooled and am planning on homeschooling my own kids. I feel like I received a much better education than I would have in the government run public school system. I believe school choice is a major step in the right direction .

[@DeconvertedMan]

mostly the thing I hated was not being taught things that I would need to know as an adult. How to fix an engine would be super useful, for example, as if my car breaks down I'm lost to what to do. Knowing how banks work, how money works, how to invest, how to apply for a job, what jobs want - experance in relevent fields so that I can show the job that I am applying for that I have experance - how credit works, how to have a relationship, kids, adopt, put up a kid for adoption, how to rent, how to find bargens, what voting is - what political people DO - all the things that adults are just ment to "know" somehow magically - something about law maybe! How does law work?! What are the laws?! If you are able to teach those sorts of real life things - then I'm behind you 1000% - also perhaps teach % and informal logic, and ethics. :D

[@billvigus3719]

@@DeconvertedMan I agree with some of what you wrote. But schools, particularly high schools, do indeed have courses that teach on accounting, shop class, occupational education, etc. Students are free to choose those courses. What I disagree is learning about relationships, adoption, etc. Those topics should have no place in public school but rather taught by parents. Imagine the government telling you how they think your relationship should be. That's a recipe for pushing more woke evil.

[@dookie7299]

@@DeconvertedMan My school had a mechanics program and shop. But it wasn’t mandatory. I took it and it was fun. Just look into the schools programs and it will work out fine.

[@DeconvertedMan]

@@billvigus3719 some do. mine didnt.

[@billvigus3719]

@@DeconvertedMan doubt that

[@GottaBeAHero]

I learned more in the 2 years of private school than i did in the 6 years of public school, that says it all.

[@suzanne4504]

No critical thinking ability of administration, teachers, curriculum.

[@Cynthia2v]

When the federal government got involved in public education, the results have been dismal. As a former educator,most people would not believe the amount of interference teachers face daily- not only in content, but also in methodology. More power to the parents and states now allowing choice!

[@tracybarhite1764]

Yes, so true! I am a retired teacher. The bureaucratic red tape is a nightmare and in most cases a complete waste of a teacher's time.

[@mrsl5514]

Amen. If teachers were allowed to teach without 1000 programs and expectations attached, maybe kids would learn.

[@jennacat13]

Seeing John Stossel is like seeing your ride home show up out of nowhere at a nightmarish party. So glad he showed up on my feed.

[@DARhineRomanceBooks]

We were fortunate enough to be able to save, scrimp, and pinch every penny to homeschool our son for several years when public education couldn't meet his individual needs amd then send both to private Catholic high school. Our dyslexic daughter also required different tactics that public schools couldn't even discuss with us because of bureaucracy! BEST decision we ever made! Public schools aren't designed for the students, they're designed for the teachers.

[@KM-nj3cm]

I've been for school choice since the late 80's. We had to move to get my daughter in a better school. It was financially difficult for us to move to a higher economic class area. But the sacrifice was worth it. I wish I could've sent her to the better school and lived in the same area.

[@elizabethsawatzky1985]

So happy that parents are being given a choice where to educate their children. Competition breeds excellence.

[@michaelc1063]

No it breeds division. Lets start by not calling it USA anymore...it will become the States of America

[@kevinclause4p55p5]

no more kangaroo courts in schools.

[@larryjeffryes6168]

There would be less bureaucracy.

[@stevedone1958]

Good for Arizona. I have been saying we should have vouchers and choice for decades. The most vociferous opponents argued, private school is a luxury. Thanks for educating a few of the nay sayers. Keep up the great work.

[@therose1277]

I've been a fan of school choice since I heard about it in high school. My only concern is that once private schools start accepting government money (vouchers), will they also be forced to accept government control?

[@crystalnichols7224]

That is my one concern. Once they give you money they start taking control. The government would love nothing more than to tell Christian schools which parts of the Bible they can't teach.

[@314jph]

With vouchers the PARENTS are receiving the money, not the schools.

[@stevenscott2136]

@Raylan Givens Right. Government (or any large organization, really) will try everything it can think of to control whatever it wants to control. The important thing is for people to NOT let it. That's half the reason central control is so pervasive -- people say "can't someone else do this?" and cheerfully hand over control of everything except their snack cabinet, just so THEY don't have to do it.

[@mike-cc3dd]

The parents receive the money. The school doesnt

[@guscunnilin]

please don't go away. we need all the rational talk we can get these days

[@TheFoxSaid]

"If I'm competing against you, I am being encouraged to do better than you" THAT'S THE FUCKING POINT

[@lynnmcmichael7570]

I was aware of the problems in public schooling in the '90s & thus chose to homeschool both sons. We have never regretted it.

[@happytraveler6933]

Just remember who started the first schools and why.

[@bvegannow1936]

Ban: mandatory school, gov control over education and curriculum, hsd and ged requirements, public school, directly tax funding schools. Let kids learn job skills and work instead

[@benlikescereal]

Parental involvement is key to school performance. I like the idea of competition in public education, but I will wager that schools with low PTA activity will consistently struggle to compete with those having high PTA engagement. I would hate to see parents believe that a “good” school alone will help their kids succeed. Support and engagement at home is paramount.

[@flynnmorrow6945]

True, but as soon as a parent is forced to think about where to send their child, they become more involved in the process. My parents sacrificed to send me to Catholic schools, and now I homeschool my own children. My K-12 education was 90% very good (some things slipped through the cracks); my poor husband is self taught and was practically abused in his local schools to which his parents mindlessly sent him.

[@tracybarhite1764]

From my experience as an educator, the parents who are willing to find and take their children to a charter school are involved in their education. I think the pandemic "woke" a lot of parents up to what was or wasn't happening in their child's school.

[@josealexi5141]

@Ben C. Smith: EXACTLY!!! people think more school funding is the answer to everything. WRONG!! The key is doing 2-4 hours of homework every night _WITH_ a parent (or 2) deeply, deeply involved.

[@bobroberts2581]

Most parents won’t even work to pay for their own kids education. You think welfare sponges like that are going to out the time in to raise their kids? “It takes a village” to tell parents to shut the goddamned mouths and get another job.

[@rosc2022]

I'm not so sure I'd say paramount, but you're right, parents are one of the top factors for top students. But on their own, parents have limits on what they can do to compensate for a disruptive classroom. Edit: The PTA involvement is a good way for parents' voices to be heard.

[@abnoco]

I was on the school board in NJ when they tried school choice. NJ stopped the program because it was too successful. School choice is a good idea.

[@Fiery154]

LOCAL!! I live in Fairfax! I have also worked for FCPS. I’m never doing that again. There are layers upon layers of bureaucracy! It was the most degrading job in my professional career with the highest caseload numbers. Kids didn’t get real speech therapy, it was just lip service.

[@Voicenreason247]

Absolute power always corrupts

[@drugsarebad97]

I struggled in traditional schools. Then for my sr year tx paid for me to go to a charter school. They had a very relaxed program you worked at your own pace and they had a teacher for each subject to come by upon request, and you didn’t have to go to a different classroom every hour. I powered through my assignments and got my diploma quicker than I would have a normal school and I was out in the workforce before my friends in the same grade even got to graduate. The key thing is to realize it’s not for everyone. But for those that need it. And for school districts with horrible reputations like “ghetto neighborhoods” then it forces them to completely overhaul and improve or else they fail

[@dookie7299]

Charter schools are a complete hit or miss. I dont trust em

[@goodboi1725]

Although I have the opposite experience, as I thrive well in the classroom setting, I still will question why it's the norm to stuff what feels like 10 hours worth of assignments onto a student for homework and claim that it's "useful" when most of the learning should be provided in the classroom anyway. Don't get me started on the state of the English subject class with the fact that it relies purely on the teacher's subjective grading of in-class essays (who the fuck thought that testing a person's ability to make a quality essay under a short amount of time diminishes the shorter the time you give them?). It shouldn't be standard to understand the material and still be rocking Ds and Cs simply because your schedule is packed with extracurriculars, definitely not projecting my personal issues right?

[@drugsarebad97]

@@goodboi1725 i actually think that’s exactly it. Everyone has personal issues and that’s why we need choice . For me I’m actually great at English. I can write short stories and have actually started writing a fiction novel in my free time . I once had a teacher even keep a poem i wrote as an example to use for students in the future . My personal issues were all math , science , and anything with equations

[@goodboi1725]

@@drugsarebad97 I just feel like its a matter of how well the school environment nurtures your learning. With math, I struggled with carrying numbers for basic subtraction. It probably wasn't until my parents stepped in to help with things, such as memorizing the times tables, did I really feel comfortable with it. I can only assume this could've been the same if I had the same amount of help with writing.

[@booqueefious2230]

I'm thankful that I was able to go to private school from 1st grade through graduation. (I didn't like it most of the time, lol. I HATED wearing uniforms and having to cut my hair a certain way) Looking back, It wasnt such a big deal to wear a uniform. As I got into highschool, I didn't really even care anymore. Usually about once a month, we had a day we could wear whatever we wanted if we paid a dollar. Some kids didn't even bother. There was always financial aid for kids that could keep up good grades. I was one of them. And my family had to pay for public school anyway. Vouchers need to be available to every family.

[@oscarchavez2577]

School choice was one of the things Milton Friedman advocated in the 1970's

[@gerardjohnson2106]

Stossel is the master of interview. He plays it as a sport and WINS. Thanks for sharing.

[@andrewhofmann5453]

They did not do well for their cause by letting David Walrod speak to Stossel. The union party line was oozing from his mouth with every word.

[@scottmiller1531]

It looked like he was making a hostage video. The way his eyes darted around was unsettling.

[@tracybarhite1764]

That's why he was chosen, to defend the pro union narrative.

[@mischelle9530]

The problem with school choice is that people from far away will go to a school because it took care of itself while the other schools closer to their homes will be empty and then those that were originally in their own schools will have to travel far to a school that had corrupt management and fell apart all schools get equal money the only thing we need is to fire the corrupt management. Otherwise, chaos will ensue. Well and the horrible teachers of course!

[@SoloPilot6]

I've worked with people who had been homeschooled, and found them to be more flexible, with a wider understanding of what was going on. They are more able to work out solutions, rather than rely on formula responses. One of them told me that his parents made EVERYTHING part of the curriculum.

[@eabe_7397]

I live in Utah and about a decade ago the state tried to pass voucher laws. Then the union put out adds about how bad it was. And people voted to get it removed. It isn't an easy win.

[@bvegannow1936]

Petition for ballot initiative and tell your canidates to Ban: mandatory school, gov control over education and curriculum, hsd and ged requirements, public school, directly tax funding schools. Let kids learn job skills and work instead. Many people that work in the public school system and many of their friends and family probably voted against vouchers. Need enuf parents and others to vote for more choice. Parents should care more about their kids than the public school workers care about their paycheck.

[@eabe_7397]

@@bvegannow1936 Not true... While I don't work in the school system. My mom/brother/sister and many friends do. They all voted for the voucher system and so did most the people they know. It is activist mostly. Even most teachers want a better system.

[@amazingronaldo9656]

@@eabe_7397 Yes it is painful to see some young teachers not be able to say or change anything, and who want to really teach and do a good job. We fought our district for three years, sold our house, to get our daughter placed in a school that specializes in her learning disability. I remember one IEP meeting where her young fairly new teacher was sitting across from me. The Special Ed coordinator was droning on about how our daughter was making progress and they couldn't give her some of the things our specialists were saying she needed. I could see this teacher really wanted to say something. Was it that the SpEd coordinator was full of it? When the teacher did talk it was reading her written evaluation and nothing else. We finally got her placed and the school had no tests to prove she was making appreciable progress. It was all about money and keeping the money in the system. Still to this day I remember the look on that poor teacher's face how she really wanted to say something but was probably being forced to shut her mouth.

[@tracybarhite1764]

I am a retired teacher. Fighting against the powerful Teacher Unions is an uphill battle. Most teachers that I know favor school choice. We know our educational system is dysfunctional.

[@pauldraper1736]

So Sad.

[@scottm8579]

If all schools were completely private, no government public schools, the cost of one year of education for kids would be dramatically lower than $30,000 per year per child. I'd guess around $2000. But the media and government marketing to parents has convinced them otherwise.

[@tomlohan331]

maybe we can find something in between. The difference is the parents. Now that the parents are stepping up education as a whole will benefit.

[@mrsl5514]

They'd be a hell of a lot more efficient too. Teachers and admin would actually have to up their game to keep their job. Making all schools private is a really great idea and eliminates the Dept. of Education which is a collosal waste of money. In NJ the state sold the Garden State Parkway to a company and within a few years, the road (which in the north is 8 lanes) was repaved. In the south, it was widened from four lanes to six to help relieve some of the shore traffic gridlock. Hmmm...

[@bvegannow1936]

Average kids can learn math reading and writing up to a 3rd grade level at home before age 5 for about $5000 total, not per year, via educational video games, videos, internet, library, and other educational materials. For kids that r too dumb to be left home alone, each kids parents could pay a neighborhood babysitter/teacher $1/hr ($160/month), so the babysitter/teacher could be paid $30/hr ($4,800/m) if they watched 30 kids. If u pay $2000/yr for babysitting/teacher fees for 4years, plus $5000 for educational materials, its $13,000 total. It would be about 4.6 times cheaper than public school. 4 years of Public school per student is about $60,000. Almost everything taught in school past 3rd grade is useless to most people and most jobs. kids could learn the info taught in k thru 12 on their own via things like library and internet if they wanted, But learning job skills or working would be a better use of their time and resources.

[@Xckel13]

Imagine if someone could start a homeschool group and make $90k a year to teach 3 kids. I think you could find some pretty smart and dedicated people who would sign up for that.

[@jason200912]

No you need competition not the elimination of options. This would not create more competition and would be no different than forced public schooling.

[@ingenuousgambit261]

Getting rid of bad teachers and retaining good teachers are both necessary, but focusing on one too much will hinder the other. but even if both were accomplished, it isn't as if all the other problems would go away.

[@TheRealFollower]

You can't hold an organization accountable if a gun is to your head to pay them money no matter how bad the service. Even if you do complain unions protect the teachers from the parents. Public schools can't be fixed unless you have real accountability.

[@mischafellner8943]

I remember a great leader telling us that they would return the power back to the people. Thank you DJT. Keep going.

[@nedwalport4426]

Stossel is great. Great content. Great style.

[@josealexi5141]

he's a national treasure.

[@JH-ex6mb]

John - For decades you have been that journalistic voice of reason. We need you now more than ever. Thank you.

[@OmegaTou]

How messed up is it that $70,000 spent on lawyers trying to fire an incompetent teacher would have been better spent hiring one hit man?

[@rossmeldrum3346]

Randy, my father was a custodian at a Jr high school for 32 years from 1955-1987 and saw it all when it came to teachers, he said it best "Those who can do, those who can't teach and those who can't teach, administrate"

[@geoffreydowdle5751]

Nope! Some committee supposedly got enough signatures to put this item on hold in Arizona until the people can vote on it in 2024. So disappointed because it would be very helpful to my kids and family.

[@bvegannow1936]

Ban: mandatory school, gov control over education and curriculum, hsd and ged requirements, public school, directly tax funding schools. Let kids learn job skills and work instead

[@yoshisaidit7250]

I talk to ppl with kids, they say they have to send their kids to school because if they dont, government gets involved. And they think school is a way to teach kids to finish what they started. It's disgusting.

[@cyntstrada979]

Took my son out of public school he’s in public homeschool but not for too long. I’ll be going fully independent studies soon.

[@stacer74]

I would love to have John as a teacher!

[@lisaroper421]

Our local school was a very good place for our kids, but I was worried about my rising kindergartener, and that it wouldn't be a good fit for him. We researched homeschooling, and asked the bigger kids what they wanted. A bit to my surprise, they all chose homeschool! So here we are, and so far we are having a great time!

[@MrZoomah]

I think it's telling that homeschoolers don't get funding. If school choice was about helping kids the money would be available for parents. This shows me that school choice is driven by people making money out of it who lobby the government.

[@flipflopmech]

Public school failed me, I dropped out on my 16th birthday. My sister who is 10 years younger than me was lucky enough to attend a private school from K-12, she's a doctor now. I'm not saying I could've been a doctor but I'm sure if I had any attention from teachers instead of being pushed away because they didn't want their grade point average to be affected. I probably would at least have graduated.

[@Bennie32831]

This will help America's education standards big time 👍 compition is the key to kids and teachers power to have better schools this works way better than fixed lazy school board's

[@generation1fan]

This is so awesome!!!

[@bvegannow1936]

Ban: mandatory school, gov control over education and curriculum, hsd and ged requirements, public school, directly tax funding schools. Let kids learn job skills and work instead

[@melodykubiak5850]

Due to unforeseen circumstances, our daughter had to transfer to public school after 7th grade in a Christian college-preparatory school. She didn't know she was studying material above her public school grade equivalent. (Neither did we.) She was genuinely bewildered and said to her math teacher after her first of day class, "Shouldn't we be past this by now?" The teacher said, "Oh, you're one of THOSE." The teacher looked up and when she saw her face she said, "You're serious, aren't you?" My daughter answered, "We studied this in 5th grade." She was mostly bored in public school. She had already studied 10th grade biology in 7th grade. She had been studying pre-calculus at the end of 7th grade and she had to retake Algebra in 9th grade in public school. She had no trouble studying Shakespeare because she already understood Old English from reading the King James Bible. Her teacher was shocked that she didn't stumble over the words when reading aloud in class and asked her why she could speak Old English.

[@collinb.8542]

Smart kid lol.

[@melodykubiak5850]

@@collinb.8542 Thanks. 😊 She's a walking encyclopedia like her father and interesting to talk to.

[@tompeled6193]

Shakespearian English isn't Old English. It's Early Modern English.

[@melodykubiak5850]

@@tompeled6193 ~ It's close enough for me, even if it's technically incorrect. That is the term the teacher used. The KJV Bible was translated in 1611 and Shakespeare died in 1616 so they were contemporary. I've only heard of the KJV as the Bible translation in Old English. Why split hairs over a term? Is it important?

[@tompeled6193]

@@melodykubiak5850 Old English is what was spoken from 400-1060. It's a completely different language from Modern English. Grammatical gender, no Norman French influence, inflection, etc.

[@andrewf6139]

Public school failed me horribly. I am lucky I am naturally curious and had good internet or I would be in real rough shape. This video gives me a little hope for this countries future.

[@BruceNewhouse]

Exceptional information gathering, analysis and presentation. Choice is excellent and the right way to go in the future. Schools also need to have their curriculum reviewed and approved by the parents. Arithmetic, reading, writing, approved sciences, history, geography, personal home skills (cooking, home cleaning, repairs & finances, sewing, hygiene). No personal agenda, political or sexual issues without prior approval from the parents. School boards should be made up of 100% parents with no teachers on the board unless they are parents of children in the same school district. Teachers should be prevented from discussing their own personal life, views, agendas, Etc.