How Republicans are Destroying the Potential for Real School Choice
Part One: Introduction
I wanted to first give some context to what I am going to say regarding my political stances since this post will contain some controversial information. First and foremost, I am not a Republican and pretty much all of their values do not align with mine. Even the things I do agree with, they ruin by getting off track and focusing on more trivial, or at least should be considered trivial issues. For example, the attempt to ban gender-affirming practices seems trivial to me because transgender people are not harming anyone and deserve the autonomy to make their own choices regarding their bodies. Maybe trivial is not the right word; perhaps a more accurate word would be petty.
Take immigration for instance. Yes, we should improve our system by making it more equitable and fair, while taking a realistic approach. This can be done through legislation and may take time, but at least it will be democratic. However, the new administration’s approach takes things way too far and is not realistic and certainly not democratic. To have ICE agents invade what were once safe sanctuaries for immigrants such as schools and churches to snatch up non-criminal undocumented immigrants is obviously taking it way too far and now it is becoming a major social justice issue… I literally cried when I realized this was really happening (of course I was in disbelief that this could actually be happening at first) because I have had some great students’ whose families immigrated from Latin America and even students who immigrated themselves. I have no idea who was documented and who was not, but my mission is to protect students and this is doing just the opposite.
At the same time, I also do not support Democrats. For me, our whole (American) government is corrupt, run on money, and manipulated by some very powerful non-politicians (I think this conspiracy theory has sadly turned into a reality). As a neurodivergent person, I feel neither side of the aisle has helped us as a minority group. Nobody in Washington has even thought to include us as a protected group, and policies and culture are constantly getting in the way of meeting our needs. I suppose I am more of an independent with leftist (not liberal) values. At the same time, I am a social libertarian and I believe that people have the autonomy to make a lot of their own decisions while also acknowledging that it can be a slippery slope for a lot of people due to human nature. I strongly value autonomy and equity and I feel like true autonomy cannot occur without equity.
Despite the current administration’s usage of “double speak” and their radical unjust policies, I admit that there is one stance that I do agree with- school choice. I am going to say loud and clear that my vision is VERY different from what the current administration wants to accomplish. So I ask you, is school choice really so bad? What are the pros and cons of this legislation? Can it be implemented in an equitable manner or will it benefit the privileged few? Let's dive into this issue and really dissect what school choice is going to mean not only for neurodivergent and other underprivileged people, but also our youth and their families in general.
conservatives are trying to make radical ground breaking change in unjust ways.. As a progressive leaning independent, I view school choice as a very progressive concept; however, the way this administration wants to implement it, at least what we know so far, is far from progressive. In fact, one cannot get further away from progressive ideologies than Project 2025 in which the writers thoroughly explain their anti-socialist stands and values (they include communism and progressivism in their use of the word “socialist” despite there being very clear differences between them). This is the point where I really start to disagree and I just ask how can such a progressive policy change be so twisted by the conservative agenda? With school choice always being connected to conservative ideologies, how could I possibly say it is actually progressive in nature? Well naturally, if I were to progressively implement this policy, it would look drastically different.
Next: Part 2: Why I support School Choice
Sarah Juliana- Certified special educator, business owner, and educational therapist with multiple exceptionalities including autism, ADHD, mental health challenges, and twice exceptionality.
For further reading
https://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/school-vouchers/
https://www.privateschoolreview.com/tuition-stats/maryland
https://www.utah.gov/pmn/files/1111359.pdh
ttps://www.besselvanderkolk.com/resources/the-body-keeps-the-score
https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/districtsearch/district_detail.asp?ID2=2400120
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