Why Care About Other People’s Children
As a vocal critic of charter and voucher schools, one of the most frequent questions I get from readers is this:
“Why should I care about other people’s children?”
One reader put it this way:
“Why should my child’s education and safety have to suffer because of difficult and violent students? …it isn’t my responsibility to pay for a miscreant’s education.”
The question says more than any answer could.
It shows quite clearly that school choice is an essentially selfish position.
That’s why some folks champion privatized education – they only care about their own children. In effect, when a parent sends their children to a charter or voucher school, they are telling the community that they don’t care what happens to any one else’s kids so long as their kids are properly cared for and educated.
It is the root cause of most of our problems in education today and has nothing to do with children. It’s all about adults – adults lacking empathy.
On the one hand, I get it. As a parent, you can’t help but love your child more than anyone else’s. You would beg, cheat and steal to make sure your child has enough to eat, is clothed and sheltered, has everything she needs to succeed in this world.
That’s a position for which few would show any embarrassment. It’s just being Why Care About Other People’s Children | gadflyonthewallblog:
