Private school choice is not a civil rights issue

According to Representative Wendy Horman, private school choice is the “civil rights issue of our time.”

Her statement was reported on December 19 in Idaho Ed News and then picked up by several news outlets in Idaho.

The phrase "civil rights issue" was coined and repeatedly polished by the backers of privatization.  And those backers have a lot of money backing them.  For them, privatization is an investment.  Tax dollars flow into private pockets.

The real civil rights issue is that the Idaho Legislature has failed in its Constitutional duty and responsibility to fund the schools we have.  In doing so, they have caused the very problem, Horman hopes to fix.

The ZIP codes that  Rep. Horman mentions?  Those are the ZIP codes where students labor in schools that are deteriorating or lacking resources.  When classrooms are too hot or too cold, learning suffers. When the schools cannot afford basic supplies or enough teachers and counselors, learning suffers.  

Instead of blaming the schools, we ought to be fixing and supporting the public schools that exist for all kids.

Privatization has been aided and abetted by legislators and special interests who have deliberately engineered our public schools to fail by underfunding and weaponizing test scores.  

Privatization is not a civil rights issue as Horman says.  It’s bait and switch. It is an opportunity for investors and one more way to disadvantage poor and rural kids.

MARY OLLIE

Bonners Ferry