Parental Choice in Education: McCain Supports it - what about Obama?

"Parental Choice in Education" affirms that Parents are the ones who should be able to make the choice of extending their own teaching mission from a full array of options.

CHESAPEAKE, VA (Catholic Online) - In keeping with our commitment to cover this important Presidential Campaign in the United States in a manner which focuses on issues and is not mired in the tired and often charged political labels such as "left", "right", or even "conservative" or "liberal", we will focus on those issues where Catholic Social Teaching offers important insights.

Clearly, the area often referred to as "School Choice" is one of those areas. However, I will not use that term in this article.

Rather than focus on the word "School", which often is then used to arouse a "public" school vs. "private" school debate, I prefer to use the term "Parental Choice". That is because Parents are the first teachers of their children and the family is the first school.

To support "Parental Choice in Education" is to affirm that Parents are the ones who should be able to make the choice of extending their own teaching mission.

The teaching of the Catholic Church on this issue is not only clear, it is refreshingly forthright. If understood properly it can truly provide insights for our National educational policy which can promote the common good.

The primacy of the family as the first cell of society, the first church, first government, first school, first hospital, first economy, and the first mediating institution of society is at the heart of Catholic Social Thought. It should also lay the foundation for building a truly just public policy.

A just philosophy of government is predicated upon the understanding that the family is the first government and that all other government must first be at its service. In his marvelous apostolic exhortation on the family ("The Role of the Christian family in the Modern World") the Servant of God Pope John Paul II affirmed the social and political role of the family and called for the development of a "family politics".

Catholics, other Christians, other people of faith and all people of good will should embrace this challenge to develop just such a "family politics". It is time to help people understand that what is really behind the issue of Parental Choice in education is the recognition of the family as the first vital cell of human society.

Parents simply are the first teachers of their children and all education begins in the home.

We need all of our candidates to affirm their support of the fundamental educational mission of parents as the first teachers of their children. We also need them to acknowledge the parental right to choose, for their children, from a full array of options, public, private, parochial,charter and home schools, no matter what their economic status, as an extension of their educational mission.

We then ask that they support any effective and constitutionally sound effort to encourage, empower, and support all parents in extending their educational mission, no matter what their economic conditions, through Parental choice in education.

The teaching of the Catholic Church on the primacy of parents in the education of their children is fundamental. Among the magisterial documents reaffirming the primacy of parents is the Apostolic Exhortation "Familiaris Consortio" (The Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World) written by the late Servant of God John Paul II. In it he wrote:

"The right and duty of parents to give education is essential, since it is connected with the transmission of human life; it is original and primary with regard to the educational role of others, on account of the uniqueness of the loving relationship between parents and children; it is irreplaceable and inalienable, and therefore incapable of being entirely delegated to others or usurped by others..."

In another of his instructions on this issue he addressed parents as the ones responsible for the first School, the domestic church of the family. In his "Letter to Families", the Servant of God John Paul II wrote the following:

"Parents are the first and most important educators of their own children, and they also possess a fundamental competence in this area; they are educators because they are parents. They share their educational mission with other individuals or institutions, such as the Church and the State. But the mission of education must always be carried out in accordance with a proper application of the Principle of Subsidiarity."

"This implies the legitimacy and indeed the need of giving assistance to the parents, but finds its intrinsic and absolute limit in their prevailing right and actual capabilities. The principle of subsidiarity is thus at the service of parental love, meeting the good of the family unit.

"For parents by themselves are not capable of satisfying every requirement of the whole process of raising children; especially in matters concerning their schooling and the entire gamut of socialization. Subsidiarity thus complements paternal and maternal love and confirms its fundamental nature, inasmuch as all other participants in the process of education are only able to carry out their responsibilities in the name of the parents, with their consent and, to a certain degree, with their authorization."

On July 16, 2008, the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party, Senator John McCain addressed the 99th annual NAACP convention. He spoke to a number of policy issues. We excerpt the portions pertaining to his support of Parental choice in education. The Senator said:

"Nowhere are the limitations of conventional thinking any more apparent than in education policy. Education reform has long been a priority of the NAACP, and for good reason. For all the best efforts of teachers and administrators, the worst problems of our public school system are often found in black communities. Black and Latino students are among the most likely to drop out of high school. African Americans are also among the least likely to go on to college.

"After decades of hearing the same big promises from the public education establishment, and seeing the same poor results, it is surely time to shake off old ways and to demand new reforms. That isn't just my opinion; it is the conviction of parents in poor neighborhoods across this nation who want better lives for their children.

"In Washington, D.C., the Opportunity Scholarship program serves more than 1,900 boys and girls from families with an average income of 23,000 dollars a year. And more than 7,000 more families have applied for that program. What they all have in common is the desire to get their kids into a better school.

"Democrats in Congress, including my opponent, oppose the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program. In remarks to the American Federation of Teachers last weekend, Senator Obama dismissed public support for private school vouchers for low-income Americans as, "tired rhetoric about vouchers and school choice." All of that went over well with the teachers union, but where does it leave families and their children who are stuck in failing schools?

"Over the years, Americans have heard a lot of "tired rhetoric" about education. We've heard it in the endless excuses of people who seem more concerned about their own position than about our children. We've heard it from politicians who accept the status quo rather than stand up for real change in our public schools. Parents ask only for schools that are safe, teachers who are competent, and diplomas that open doors of opportunity.

"When a public system fails, repeatedly, to meet these minimal objectives, parents ask only for a choice in the education of their children. Some parents may choose a better public school. Some may choose a private school. Many will choose a charter school. No entrenched bureaucracy or union should deny parents that choice and children that opportunity.

"We should also offer more choices to those who wish to become teachers. Many thousands of highly qualified men and women have great knowledge, wisdom, and experience to offer public school students. But a monopoly on teacher certification prevents them from getting that chance. You can be a Nobel Laureate and not qualify to teach in most public schools today. They don't have all the proper credits in educational "theory" or "methodology" -- all they have is learning and the desire and ability to share it. If we're putting the interests of students first, then those qualifications should be enough.

"If I am elected president, school choice for all who want it, an expansion of Opportunity Scholarships and alternative certification for teachers will all be part of a serious agenda of education reform. I will target funding to recruit teachers who graduate in the top 25 percent of their class, or who participate in an alternative teacher recruitment program such as Teach for America, the American Board for Teacher Excellence, and the New Teacher Project.

"We will pay bonuses to teachers who take on the challenge of working in our most troubled schools -- because we need their fine minds and good hearts to help turn those schools around. We will award bonuses as well to our highest-achieving teachers. And no longer will we measure teacher achievement by conformity to process. We will measure it by the success of their students.

"Moreover, the funds for these bonuses will not be controlled by faraway officials -- in Washington, in a state capital, or even in a district office. Under my reforms, we will entrust both the funds and the responsibilities where they belong in the office of the school principal.

"One reason that charter schools are so successful, and so sought-after by parents, is that principals have spending discretion. And I intend to give that same discretion to public school principals. No longer will money be spent in service to rigid and often meaningless formulas. Relying on the good judgment and first-hand knowledge of school principals, education money will be spent in service to public school students.

"We can also help more children and young adults to study outside of school by expanding support for virtual learning. So I propose to direct 500 million dollars in current federal funds to build new virtual schools, and to support the development of online courses for students.

"Through competitive grants, we will allocate another 250 million dollars to support state programs expanding online education opportunities, including the creation of new public virtual charter schools. States can use these funds to build virtual math and science academies to help expand the availability of Advanced Placement math, science, and computer science courses, online tutoring, and foreign language courses.

"Under my reforms, moreover, parents will exercise freedom of choice in obtaining extra help for children who are falling behind. As it is, federal aid to parents for tutoring for their children has to go through another bureaucracy. They can't purchase the tutoring directly, without having to deal with the same education establishment that failed their children in the first place. These needless restrictions will be removed, under my reforms. If a student needs extra help, parents will be able to sign them up to get it, with direct public support...."

We applaud Senator McCain for his clear articualtion of support for Parental Choice in education.

We now call upon his rival, the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party, Senator Barack Obama, to address the issue of Parental Choice in education.

There appears to be a confused record on Senator Obama's part. Does he support empowering parents, through the use of constitutionally sound vouchers or credits, to choose from among the full array of educational options for their children?

In June of 2002, he indicated in an interview that he would support "school vouchers" saying "I would support anything that is going to be better for the children of Illinois," he said. He emphatically added that "I am not closed minded on the issue."

Yet earlier this year, he appeared more reticent, though he did acknowledge he was keeping the door open, "If there was any argument for vouchers, it was 'Let's see if the experiment works.' And if it does, whatever my preconception, you do what's best for kids."

Now it is reported that he told the American Federation of Teachers recently that he opposed vouchers.

Some recent reports on the apparent evolution in the candidate's position have questioned his motives. Others have attempted to paint the issue in the old "left/right" language and accused Senator Obama of being a "Leftist".

We reject both of these approaches.

Parental Choice in education is a social justice issue. Senator Obama has repeatedly expressed his support for the poor and his support for the primacy of parents in the lives of their children. It would seem to be a matter of consistency for him to support Parental Choice in education and thereby offering all parents, and their children, the opportunity which he and his wife have.

We call on the candidate to respond to two questions:

1) Senator Obama what is your position on Parental Choice in Education?

2) Will you support a constitutionally sound mechanism to empower parents, no matter what their economic status, to choose where to send their children to school from among the full palate of educational opportunities, public, private, charter, parochial or home schools?

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