By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON, D.C.—We are leading the world in per capita expenditure for public school education but we lag far behind on academic performance,” said Jordan Sekulow, Executive Director of the America Center for Law and Justice which launched its School Choice initiative Monday, June 22.
The American Center for Law and Justice believes that “school choice is an issue of searing importance for a rising tide of Americans” and believes the federal government can “provide funding for pilot programs throughout the nation.”
The ACLJ School Choice petition states: “Underperforming public schools – especially in disadvantaged communities – are crushing kids’ future. For decades, the ‘progressive’ Left has shoveled trillions of tax dollars into failing public schools, hoping the problem would fix itself. But underperforming public schools continue setting students up for generational failure. Justice requires equality of opportunity in education. And that begins with School Choice.
“At the ACLJ, we have launched our School Choice Initiative to ensure that every state in the country allows parents to choose the school they believe will provide their kids the best education – whether it’s a private, religious, charter, homeschool, or public school – regardless of economic standing.”
According to Sekulow, “We need to advance justice by expanding School Choice. We need to demand School Choice in giving every child equal opportunity and justice.”
President Donald J. Trump at his Tulsa, Oklahoma campaign speech on June 20th said, “Access to education is a Civil Rights issue. We believe access to education is a civil right. A child’s zip code should never determine their future.”
Sekulow stated: “We assign schools based on where families live. If you have resources, are powerful and connected, you have choices; but if you don’t, you are the ones that get left behind and miss out.”
According to ACLJ attorney Harry G. Hutchinson, “Over the past fifty years, funding increases have culminated in the United States leading the world in per capita educational expenditures. Still, widespread data verifying educational performance disparities doggedly surface. This evidence calls into question the entire progressive approach to problem-solving.
“After all, Great Society programs have now been in place for fifty-five years, but after trillions of dollars in aid—including federal aid to public schools—little has changed in the neighborhoods at the center of the disruptions that characterized most major urban areas.
“We can no longer leave the existing educational regime unchallenged. No longer can we stand by and allow underperforming schools to consign millions of children to deficient, and yet often highly funded, schools.”
The American Center for Law and Justice intends “to expand its footprint” by taking legal action where appropriate, issuing policy reports based on empirical data that “will demolish the fuzzy data” offered by vouchers’ opponents, and contesting arguments against vouchers and school choice.
ACLJ attorney Ed White argues that “money is not the issue. We believe in the American value of competition.”
According to Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), “When parents have choice in education there is more opportunity for success. We open the gateway to the American dream for many kids.”
(Editor’s Note: The ACLJ petition for School Choice which can be signed at: https://aclj.org/school-choice/demand-school-choice–give-every-child-equality-of-opportunity-and-justice.)
Michael Hernandez, Co-Founder of the Citizens Journal—Ventura County’s online news service; editor of the History Makers Report and founder of History Makers International—a community nonprofit serving youth and families in Ventura County, is a former Southern California daily newspaper journalist and religion and news editor. He worked 25 years as a middle school teacher in Monrovia and Los Angeles Unified School Districts. Mr. Hernandez can be contacted by email at [email protected].
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