Today we are on the verge of a major paradigm shift. It is a shift away from outdated 19th century thinking, which threatens to strap California with an unprepared, unequipped workforce, to 21st century thinking, where we can demand educational excellence for all of our children. This will happen when we have the courage to unleash on our system of education the tremendous level of human talent and ingenuity that has made our state so great in every other aspect of our lives. If we can ensure that every child has the opportunity to reap the benefits of such a system, then we can establish a model of education that is unparalleled in the rest of our nation, let alone the world.
This model can be achieved through the aid of a broad-based voucher system like the one provided in this fall’s Proposition 38. It will provide parents with children at failing schools with a $4,000 way out. Imagine this: allowing parents to have in their power the choice of how best to educate their children. If parents determine that a nearby private school will provide a better opportunity, then they can exercise their right to send their child there. If parents have their children in a good public school, they can feel confident knowing that, thanks to Prop. 38, there would also be a new guarantee that every student will be funded at a level at least equal to the national average.
It is the same concept of freedom of choice through competition that rapidly improved our nationwide telecommunications system after AT & T; was split up in the early 1980s. It is this freedom of choice that has resulted in so many options after the airline industry was deregulated. This same freedom has also given us the Internet and the information age, which is rapidly improving the lives of so many, regardless of income or situation. One cannot make the case that injecting competition has been harmful in these or many other situations, yet at the time, there were many detractors warning us of the supposed risks associated with giving everyone a choice.
For far too long our education establishment has had another agenda. By effectively eliminating choice and opportunity in the government education system currently offered in California, they have left us with a poorly performing system that is in many cases failing our children. California’s public schools rank 49th out of 50 states in reading and math scores. This is not helped by the fact that statewide, a stunning one out of three high school freshman will drop out before their senior year. Our schools are dangerous, as 81,000 serious crimes are committed on public school campuses each year. The children who are failed by our educational system will very likely end up in the criminal justice system, rather than in our state’s workforce.
Opponents characterize the voucher initiative as reckless. Here’s what is truly reckless,the California Teachers Association’s stranglehold on state government. Its agenda: attack anything that hints of accountability, reward for performance, teacher competency testing and tenure elimination. In fact, the CTA has blocked virtually every major education reform that has made its way to Sacramento in recent years.
On the other hand, California’s State Legislative Analyst Office has determined that vouchers would result in a “net savings from public school departures.” Think about it: if 15% of public school students leave a failing school to attend a private one of their choice, it would be a windfall for the state’s educational system. The LAO reported that in this scenario, the net impact would be a $700 million annual savings to the state. This is money that can be used to improve our public schools, by paying teachers more and further striving to reduce class size.
Freedom to choose with the help of vouchers will certainly help our schools. In fact, every time vouchers have been offered, they have resulted in increased public school quality. When publicly funded freedom of choice was offered to parents in Milwaukee and Cleveland, school choice initially brought about a flight of students to private schools. As test scores improved and parents overwhelmingly reported a higher level of satisfaction in terms of academic curriculum, discipline and safety, public schools took notice. As a response, both public school districts are improving their levels of service. Milwaukee has developed a successful individual tutoring program, and Cleveland is showing solid signs of revamping its bureaucracy.
Yes, it is true that the teachers unions will probably lose under Prop. 38. So might the administrators and the government bureaucracy, who currently receive more than 40 cents per every public education dollar. Yet this shakeup in power promises so many more winners.
Our children will win by being exposed to a wider variety of educational opportunities. Our teachers, especially the better ones, will win by having a broader market in which they can provide their services. Our public schools will win because they will be allowed to spend their time educating, instead of appeasing politicians and ivory-tower bureaucrats. California benefits by having a more diversified, better-educated future workforce, which will help continue to meet the constant demands of our competitive global economy. Parents will win as the decisions for a student’s educational future would be left with those who have a vested interest.
Leaders of our business community are acutely aware of the opportunities available due to competition. They know that they can provide the best available services when they can freely meet the needs of their customers and shareholders. They know that businesses are more effective and more innovative when they are accountable to those who have a vested interest in benefiting from that service, rather than accountable to bureaucrats.
We need to bring this reform and new level of accountability to our education system. This reform simply cannot wait. It is time to take full advantage of this by passing Prop. 38.
Draper is founder and a managing director of Redwood City-based venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurveston, and the driving force behind the “38 Yes” school voucher initiative.
