Opinion: Three strikes — you’re out in school choice

In this situation, Idaho strikes out every time, since we are one of very few states that can’t hit any of the “pitches” for school-choice success:

1. The parents must be well organized (strike one).

2. They need to enjoy solid champions in the Legislature (strike two).

3. They require strong support from their governor (strike three).

To add to these can’t-win circumstances, the pitcher (teachers’ union) does, in fact, have an unfair advantage: a duplicitous combination of fastball/breaking ball/off-speed pitches called “propaganda programming” of our children.

The outcome: Three strikes and an elusive pitch from a shrewd pitcher, and the state of Idaho’s attempts at school choice for the students is out, every time.

Let’s dissect these circumstances:

Strike one: Parents — Trying to organize parents who don’t want to know, or are not privy to, the truth is difficult.

Strike two: Idaho Legislature — The Idaho House Education Committee is now chaired by a former teacher/administrator who worked in the education and union arena for 32 years, together with other committee members with long-term education and/or union-influenced backgrounds.

Strike three: Governor — In 2022, Gov. Little supported the Empowering Parents Grant Bill, which was funded by federal COVID-relief dollars and backed by the Association of School Administrators. This bill didn’t offer true school choice. Rather, it awarded $1,000/student, up to $3,000/family, for parents to use for limited expenses.

The winning 2022 school-choice bill was House Bill 669, the Student Hope and Opportunity Scholarships Program, which included eligibility for 65% of students and returned approximately $5,950 to families to completely personalize their students’ education. The bill died in the education committee.

Pitcher: Unions — Idaho students are not safe from the unions’ identity politics and racially divisive concepts. In November 2022, at Taylorview Middle School in Idaho Falls, an Idaho Education Association union representative left “Types of Racism” bookmarks in each teacher’s mailboxes, asking them to advocate for racial and social justice. Like most Idaho K-12 schools in Idaho, Taylorview teachers are also told to teach the controversial, child-intrusive social-emotional learning philosophy to its students.

Question: With Idaho’s academic scores at an all-time low, why are K-12 teachers, who acquired their teachers’ certificates in college to teach academics, now being instructed (many against their will) to waste precious time teaching psychologist-degree, college-type courses on high-level, behavioral assessment programs?

Unlike Florida, Arizona and Virginia, to name only a few states who hit school-choice home runs, every time, “Idaho, three strikes — you’re out.”