COMMENTARY: Private schools not needed for accountability

In his Sept. 19 commentary Mr. Brian Phillips states that Texas public school students are not getting the education they deserve. That unfortunately is true, as every test not based on Texas’ contrived measurements has shown. However, he goes on to find fault with politicians and school boards and proposes that it can be solved with charter schools. The first is incorrect and the second is dangerous.

Texas’ constitutionally mandated public schools are there for all without extra tuition or fees not covered by local taxes and state contributions. Here is where Mr. Phillips blaming the politicians falls short. Parents have complete control of their schools and accountability through school board elections, votes on bond issues and election of the politicians who make the rules and appoint members of the Texas Education Agency in Austin. After attending board meetings, I see that even though they have the opportunity for control, they decline to use it as long as the football team does well.

Please remember the Texas Constitution mandates equal public support for education for all students, not a lot extra for a student minority involved in sports.

Mr. Phillips wants school choice. Certainly, we already have it in Hidalgo County. I believe at last count we had 20 public ISDs, 22 private and church schools, 19 public magnet and a military school. Mr. Phillips declares there should be greater variety like in the retail market. Why, so some can prosper and some can go broke? Remember, charter schools are standalone businesses. Education for profit maybe? Wouldn’t it be preferable to improve what we have rather than trying to spread the same available funds over more schools, duplicating effort and decreasing the opportunities in each and certainly lowering the quality of education for all?

Wouldn’t it be better for parents and students to mandate a higher quality education for all, with failure resulting in the removal from office or control for all those found responsible for any shortfall? Impeach and prosecute those officials who continue to play politics with education and line their pockets with kickbacks at the children’s expense. Instead, Mr. Phillips suggests that we provide myriad schools that provide different kinds of education so that parents can “choose one more aligned with their values.” What values might those be — possibly anarchy, communism, hate, division, devil worship?

As an American and a taxpayer, I prefer our students receive an improved version of the public school system that has been responsible for providing common values that have united the country and made us the world leader we still are. It is a system centered on scholastic excellence and common American values, not those of one or any political party, movement or fringe system of beliefs.

Finally, Mr. Phillips tells us what he really wants. He wants the Florida system where your taxes pay to send any student to any school that offers education that suits their families’ desires, good or bad. He calls it “robust” but fails to explain how it is monitored or regulated, which are his complaints about our public schools. It is also endorsed by their Gov. Ron DeSantis, a person who publicly demonstrates his hate-filled, affluenza-infected misunderstanding of American values.

Texans, the solution is in your hands. Attend your school board meetings en masse and promise that any board member who fails to ensure a proper education by national, not Texas, standards or does not see to the removal of administrators, and they the teachers who cannot provide same, will be replaced. We do not need to turn our children over to private businesses that will lead them down whatever road they see fit for profit by their contractors or managing agencies.

It’s your responsibility!

Ned Sheats lives in Mission.