An educational network backed by one of the nation's largest teachers' unions came under fire from a school choice advocate after they labeled voucher programs as racist in a campaign slated to push back against "National School Choice Week."
"Families aren't going to be silenced into submission," Corey DeAngelis, a self-described school choice evangelist, said Sunday on "Fox & Friends Weekend."
"They're going to be emboldened to push back even harder, and the momentum is going to continue in 2024. We have states like Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Georgia. They're all on deck to expand school choice even further. This attack from the teachers unions just reeks of desperation. They've hit rock bottom. They're grasping at straws to do whatever they can to try to trap other people's kids in their failing government schools. That's not going to work anymore. Families are fed up."
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The campaign, according to a QuickStart Guide from Partnership for the Future of Learning, aims to challenge rhetoric claiming that school choice programs "advance equity."
"One way they can do this is to challenge the narrative head-on by taking care to explain how voucher programs can disadvantage students of color and deepen existing inequities," the guide reads in part.
The guide continues with the rationale that school choice takes funding away from high-quality public education that "ensures that every student has an equal chance in life, regardless of race or where they live."
"School choice initiatives, like voucher programs, make this vision difficult to achieve. These programs take money from the public school system to pay tuition at private schools. This is more likely to take place in Black and Brown communities, which are underfunded to start, and forces them to cut corners and increase class size. The end result is that neighborhood public schools, and the communities that depend on them, are deprived of important resources that students need to learn and succeed."
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A network website, which contains talking points defending public education, writes that voucher programs were rooted in segregation, writing that "publicly funded scholarships to attend private schools were intended for white families to escape state desegregation efforts," adding that voucher programs increase racial isolation.
DeAngelis, conversely, argued Sunday that school choice is beneficial for students and families of all groups.
"There are 29 studies on this on the subject of school choice competition. Twenty-six of the 29 studies find positive effect," he said.
"School choice is a rising tide that lifts all boats. The public schools actually up their game in response to competition and obviously getting more of a choice. Your kids are going to be better off because parents know their kids better than anybody, certainly more than bureaucrats sitting in offices hundreds of miles away. So you get an opportunity. Your kids are going to be better off on academics, but also just choosing a school that aligns with your values."
"Parents don't want to send their kids to institutions where they feel like they're being brainwashed for 13 years."
DeAngelis posted about the Partnership for the Future of Learning's initiative on X last Thursday, saying it begins Monday.
He also attached images containing information about the toolkit and the alleged dangers of allowing school voucher programs to grow.
"Fox & Friends Weekend" reached out to both the Partnership for the Future of Learning and the National Education Association, which is listed as one of the network's "partnering organizations" online, but did not receive a response in time for the segment.
