With their heavy-handed and politically charged guidelines from the Covid era, researchers at Harvard and Stanford have established what relatives have known for a while: public schooling “experts” decimated an whole generation of children. However, rather than implore forgiveness and seek healing, those very similar “experts” are doubling down.  ,
The Socialist beliefs that are embedded in critical race theory are being used in many public schools, and stories about young girls being injured by men trans high school athletes are now ubiquitous. Some public school districts have also filed lawsuits against social media companies and their heinous systems, disguising their own efforts to the state-wide child mental health problems.  ,
In 2014, while fighting for president, Sen. Ted Cruz, R- Texas, was strongly criticized for stating that class selection is” the most powerful civil rights issue of the 21st millennium”. Despite the senator’s absolute right, only nine states have passed laws establishing general education flexibility ten years later. Even worse, elected Republicans are giving more money to a dysfunctional public education system that is openly hostile to traditional people.
A$ 1.2 trillion funding package that allocates almost$ 80 billion to the left-wing Department of Education was passed by the Republican-led House of Representatives just last week. Traditional parents might be tempted to inquire as to whether elected Republicans, who frequently enroll their own children in private schools, are truly concerned about their best interests.  ,
Pennsylvania: A Study in Bipartisan Loss
More than 90 % of K-12 expenses are covered by state and local levies, despite the mind-blowing federal funding for public knowledge. In Pennsylvania, for instance, Gov. Josh Shapiro just touted his$ 1 billion increase in K- 12 training investing, bringing the total annual spending on public education to a staggering$ 19.1 billion, or 44 percent of the total state funds. For some perspective, spending on education in Pennsylvania was about half that,$ 9.6 billion, in 2019.
Republicans have largely controlled the Pennsylvania legislature for that time, so it would be easy to blame Democrats for this astounding display of fiscal irresponsibility. One would have hoped that teachers, who are responsible for raising the next generation’s education, would have experienced significant increases in pay and job satisfaction as a result of this excessive spending. That is not the case, though. Four years and billions of dollars later, Pennsylvania lost nearly 10, 000 teachers in 2023 alone.  ,  ,  ,  ,
Pennsylvania teachers are miserable and are leaving the field in droves, despite having doubled funding in recent years. What about the kids? The billions in additional funding that has been given to Pennsylvania’s public schools should have led to their prosperity, but that is not the case either. Pennsylvania children are still struggling to recover from the serious harm that the state’s enforcement of its laws has caused.  ,
Pennsylvanian families are also engaged in national cultural battles that affect public schools. For instance, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) lodged a complaint in late 2022 against the Central Bucks School District, alleging that some district policies and practices were hostile to LGBT students. The superintendent was forced to resign in the wake of the district’s$ 1.5 million investigation, and Democrats won back control of the school board the following year. The newly elected school board president of that district obliterated a stack of contentious LGBT books just to add insult to injury. The left has mastered the lawfare game at every level, at least one thing is foretold.  ,
Compare that incident to my time in the nearby Unionville-Chadds Ford School District. For the past three years, I have been attempting to hold neighborhood school administrators accountable for their illegal behavior during the Covid incident. Because there is no ACLU equivalent for conservative families, however, the school district has thus far completely ignored my public complaint. Parents and teachers in my district are left to deal with the destruction caused by those institutional failures at the same time.
Meanwhile, Republican politicians in the commonwealth are nowhere to be found. The chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee has undoubtedly expressed regret for the governor’s excessive spending, but a quick examination of his list of grievances reveals that he is both long on criticism and short on solutions. Republican officials in Pennsylvania make up for the lack of parental rights by cozying up to conservative voters when they need them.  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,
A Fundamental Right to Education
The Supreme Court ruled in Meyer v. Nebraska that parents have a fundamental right to” control the education of their own.” The court ruled a few years later in Pierce v. Society of Sisters that the government could not unnecessarily encroach upon parents ‘ right to control their children’s education and upbringing. Nevertheless, a century later, the state has far more control over the destiny of our children than anyone ever expected.  ,
Although parental support for school choice resembles the overwhelming support for congressional term limits, it seems like it will never be done. Gov. Shapiro campaigned for greater freedom of choice in schools, but he vehemently disregarded his campaign promise once elected. So Pennsylvanians are left with the status quo — teachers are n’t happy, parents are n’t happy, and children are falling behind. The public education system continues to rage.
Since 2000, the public school administrative class in Pennsylvania has grown by nearly 40 percent, and the top 10 superintendents in Pennsylvania make well over$ 250, 000 per year. However, the starting pay for teachers is still lower than$ 60,000 for most of the state. The system is n’t working for anyone but the people who decide how to control the flow of Pennsylvania’s$ 20 billion education budget.
The extent to which Republican officials have betrayed conservative families, the very people they are supposed to represent, is illustrated by what is happening in Pennsylvania. It’s appropriate for those voters to examine the candidates seeking their support in an election year. The harm to children wrought by the pandemic’s disastrous policies is undeniable, and the data is available. What should parents do in this case?
Democrat politicians and their powerful union bosses can be held accountable, but perhaps it’s time to focus their attention on elected Republicans. Republicans are instead rewarding a public education system that indisputably harm children and actively promotes policies that purposefully harm conservative families rather than holding the “experts” accountable and demanding comprehensive school choice as a form of reconciliation.
Republican officials should make a difference for those families. If not, those families may need to stop supporting Republican politicians.
Chad Williams is a husband, father, and lawyer who lives in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
