I never cease to be amazed by the shrill voices of the far
left demanding their rights to freedom of choice.
Such choices include the right to kill their unborn
children. The right to make me pay for that murder with my tax dollars. The
right to free medical care. The right to unlimited welfare.
As the chorus rises, I wish they would invoke their
"right to remain silent."
But when anyone suggests the rights of Christians to brand
abortion or homosexuality as a sin, the right to free speech is shouted down
by the vocal left.
When parents demand educational choice backed by vouchers or
educational tax credits from the federal or state government, the sirens of
the left howl louder than ever.
When you attack their socialist brand of education, you
directly threaten their plan to indoctrinate the next generation with their
cockeyed version of "hug a tree" reality.
Of course, the NEA, in particular, quakes in its boots when
educational choice receives serious consideration. Shrinking public school
enrollments decrease the need for teachers and force potential lay-offs.
When governmental subsidies decrease, it can also translate into fewer and
smaller pay raises. No wonder the left is fighting back with both barrels
blazing.
Some conservatives have an understandable fear that school
vouchers still leave too much control over their children’s education in
the hands of the state. Some voucher plans would only allow parents to send
their kids to a different public school. And those who choose to home school
their children would still be required to fund the public schools through
their property tax dollars without receiving any direct benefit from that
investment.
Educational credits are the tax relief vehicles of choice
for home schoolers and it’s easy to see why. They would retain maximum
control over the content of their children’s curriculum while reducing
their tax bills significantly.
A home school organization recently issued a call for the
adoption of such a plan to benefit parents across the country.
We stand in support of such a plan.
The only way public and private schools will be motivated to
strive for excellence is through genuine competition. The free marketplace
will work in education as it does in all other areas of the economy. And the
dollars that remain in the pockets of American families will be available to
pay the bills, fuel new expenditures and help revive our economy, as well.
Let’s give educational tax credits a chance to work. It’s
one right from which all parents might benefit.