CEO, American Federation for Children (
@SchoolChoiceNow
), the nation’s largest school choice advocacy organization (Super PAC / 501c4 / 501c3) |
@Stanford
grad
5 years ago, LeBron James started a school.
Tons of fanfare, loads of resources, fawning media coverage.
Oddly, he did it via the school district - rather than starting a private or even a charter school.
Today: "Zero 8th graders have passed the state math test in 3 years"
New Jersey governor Phil Murphy (D) - who sent all 4 of his own kids to private schools and boarding schools - BLOCKED school choice expansions for lower income families in NJ.
NEW: Illinois -
- 30 schools have 0 students proficient in reading
- 53 schools have 0 students proficient in math
Taxpayers spend ~$20,500 / student in those schools
Our government-run K-12 system is devastating generations of our kids.
We desperately need school choice.
HUGE polling news:
71% overall support the concept of
#SchoolChoice
This is the HIGHEST level of support ever recorded from our major national polling with a sample size above 800 voters.
White: 73%
Black: 66%
Hispanic: 68%
Asian: 66%
Democrat: 69%
Republican: 75%
Congress gave K-12 schools $68 billion for covid relief/ reopening.
How much has been SPENT? ...$4 billion
Congress is planning to send an additional $130 billion to K-12 schools.
Teachers' unions know how to play the game.
Bypass the unions. Fund families
#SchoolChoice
CALIFORNIA:
75% of black boys FAIL the state reading standards.
@BurgessOwens
: They'll remain in CA's failing system because "there are unions & people who THRIVE on misery."
California families need SCHOOL CHOICE.
Fund students. Not the system.
The hardest thing to do in politics is to beat a sitting legislator.
We targeted 69 anti-school choice incumbents in state legislatures this year.
We beat 40 of them.
2022 was a School Choice Wave.
Getting baby formula for our son is SUPER fun…today, at Target.
Maybe take some of the $122 BILLION EXTRA the feds gave to K-12 for “covid relief” - 93% hasn’t been spent! - to fix this crisis?
Or does that not fit the teachers’ union bosses’ agenda of hoarding the cash?
Kamala's stepchildren attended private school, and so did Biden & his kids.
Yet they attack
#SchoolChoice
for lower income families?
Forcing families to attend schools they hate - ones that wealthy politicians would never set foot in - is disgustingly hypocritical.
#VPPick
Nothing says "I ❤️ Public Schools" like a politician who never sends their children to public schools yet votes against
#SchoolChoice
for lower income families.
...now add in teachers' unions who don't want teachers to teach even after getting vaccinated.
Nothing says "I ❤️ Public Schools" like a politician who NEVER sends their children to public schools yet votes AGAINST
#SchoolChoice
for lower income families.
For the $130 billion in K-12 funding that Congress is about to pass...every K-12 family in America could have received a $2,300 check per student to spend on K-12 education expenses.
Bypass the teachers unions. Fund families
#SchoolChoice
!
Biden-Sanders just released their plan to END the DC voucher program
#SchoolChoice
So Biden/Sanders want to EVICT 1,700 kids from the schools they love.
Oh, and 83% of the kids are Black, 12% Latino; average family income of $26,000
Trump just now: "School choice is the civil rights statement of the year, of the decade, and probably beyond. Because all children have to have access to a quality education. A child's ZIP code in America should never determine their future."
@realDonaldTrump
Stanford research: Charter schools in urban areas give Black students in poverty an equivalent 59 additional days of learning in math and 44 days in reading compared to district school peers.
#SchoolChoice
Biden: charter schools are gone if I'm president
"If I’m president, Betsy DeVos’ whole notion from charter schools to this are gone” -
@JoeBiden
Why do lower income kids accessing
#SchoolChoice
programs face the brunt of attacks? From people who went to private schools and sent their kids to private schools??
Feds gave California $8+ billion last year, yet 62% of its district schools are still fully remote.
CA is about to get an ADDITIONAL $15.8 billion for K-12 from the feds (yet the $ can be spent through 2028)
Bypass the unions. Fund students.
#SchoolChoice
It’s not hyperbole to say K-12 system is ruining generations.
In one Baltimore HIGH SCHOOL, of 628 kids...204 kids are reading below a 2nd grade reading level!
Overall, 77% of the high school has an elementary reading level.
WE NEED FULL-BLOWN SCHOOL CHOICE NOW
Biden is proposing another $100B for schools, on top of the $197B in additional K-12 spending from Congress in the past year...
Every family could have received a $5,300 check per kid to spend on K-12 education expenses.
Bypass the teachers unions. Fund families
#SchoolChoice
!
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is trying to charge a charter school $500,000...for the charter school to use the their own athletic fields.
At this point, he must wake up every day and ask: "How can I make myself more unpopular? How can I put politics before kids?"
This mom filed a public records request to see what her school district was teaching her 5-year-old…
The school board publicly smeared her.
The NEA teachers union SUED her.
"If you ask questions about public education, they will come after you."
School choice fixes this.
.
@BerkeleyUnified
Union President Matt Meyer says it’s still too “unsafe” for you to send your kids to school.
Here he is dropping his own daughter off at a private, in-person school.
They are lying to you.
Wow. THIS interview with
@SRuhle
...she takes teachers' union leader
@rweingarten
to the mat for opposing
#SchoolChoice
for lower-income families in urban areas:
Day 2 of the teachers union strike in Chicago. Nearly 400,000 kids go another day without learning...
Chicago teachers earn on average $79,000
Chicago public school spending per student: $13,488
Average private school tuition cost in Illinois: $7,913
#SchoolChoice
NOW!
Found an "Unlisted" YouTube video of
@JoeBiden
.
How does he "feel" about charter schools?
TEACHERS' UNION: "[We've] pushed back against what we think are very misguided school reforms like charter schools...You know how we feel about charter schools"
BIDEN: "Same way I feel"
Nancy Pelosi is worth $120+ million.
The private school she went to as a kid is permanently closing this year due to the Covid shutdowns.
..she couldn’t make a donation?
#SchoolChoice
only for the wealthy I guess?
NOT PARODY: Gavin Newsom went to DC this week to accept an award for his education leadership.
-> California was the worst state for reopening public schools, damaging children in so many ways
-> He sends his kids to private school
SHOT:
Senator Debra Altschiller (D-NH) says parents who choose homeschool or private school are putting their kids in “silos” of “indoctrination.”
CHASER:
…Altschiller sent her kids to private school.
To quote school leader
@DrStevePerry
regarding teachers' unions refusing to open schools:
"Did you get your hair done? Did you get groceries? Did you visit friends? ...Then you can go back to school."
#SchoolChoice
#SchoolChoice
conversation:
—“I don’t support school choice. It hurts public schools.”
ME: Huh?
—“Because kids will leave district schools & go to other schools.”
ME: ...What does it say about the district system that you think families will flee when given the chance?
—🤯
2018: Only 19% of Americans under 45 years old can pass the citizenship exam.
We spent $15,424 per K-12 student in 2017.
Families deserve
#SchoolChoice
NOW!
The Chicago teachers' union is making a clear statement to families: "Our teachers are not essential."
Families deserve to have the right to send their child to a school of their choice - especially if unions strike.
#SchoolChoice
Civil rights lawsuit alert. And demonstrates why families need school choice NOW:
--Question: "So then what do you do with the Catholics, if you find out someone is Catholic, then what?"
--Public elementary school leader: "You don't hire them"
Teachers Union Playbook:
1-Take teachers' $ from their paycheck
2-Use $ for elections / buying politicians
3-Get more tax $ from politicians they control
4-$ doesn’t go to teachers
5-Get teachers mad that they aren’t paid enough
6-Strike!
Repeat.
#SchoolChoice
Now!
California Governor Newsom is sending his 4 children to private schools with in-person instruction
I'm glad his family has that opportunity
All families should have that choice.
So a lifelong millionaire politician, who owns three homes in a state that’s 95% white, who is fighting to cut off
#SchoolChoice
options from lower income black and brown families...is running away with the Democratic presidential nomination...
#NVCaucus
"If I’m president, Betsy DeVos’ whole notion from charter schools to this are gone” -
@JoeBiden
Why do lower income kids accessing
#SchoolChoice
programs face the brunt of attacks? From people who went to private schools and sent their kids to private schools??
SHOCKING survey, in case you’re wondering about the state of our K-12 education system:
- 63% of U.S. 18-39 year olds unaware 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust
- 23% said the Holocaust was a myth, exaggerated, or weren’t sure
How do these crooks get away with this?
In Chicago suburbs, parents are charged $50/day per kid to have their student in class for "remote learning supervision" in buildings the district deemed "unsafe" for in-person learning...
Total shakedown. Families need
#SchoolChoice
NOW
Families should be the most powerful group in our K-12 system. NOT unions / bureaucrats.
#SchoolChoice
puts families in the driver's seat.
-->62% of public school students were virtual (Union politics) vs. 5% of private school students (Meeting demands of families) this fall
Nothing says “teacher appreciation” like a union boss making $600K per year basically going “I’ve been doing everything I can to keep you out of the classroom for a year or more”
As
#TeacherApprecationWeek
begins, I just want to say thank you. This past year teachers went beyond the call of duty to meet the needs of students. I’m so grateful to each and every one of you.
#ThankATeacher
8th grade U.S. history test scores are at historic lows, it’s teacher appreciation week in America, so naturally the head of the national teachers union is in *checks notes* …Ukraine
NEW: Baltimore taxpayers spend $21,000 per student in K-12…
- 93% of students are NOT proficient in math.
- 23 schools have 0 students proficient in math. ZERO.
Our government-run K-12 system is devastating generations of our kids.
We desperately need school choice.
We could get laptops+wifi for each student for a few hundred dollars. Yet some school districts are just canceling school.
We're paying on average $13,000+ per student for K-12 education...where is the money going??
This should be a wake up call for why we need
#SchoolChoice
!
After promising to deliver school choice, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) caves to teachers unions and will veto $100M appropriation for scholarships for low-income students.
The governor’s kids will, of course, continue to go to private school.
This is POWERFUL. School choice is literally life-saving:
After an unsuccessful suicide attempt due to horrendous bullying for his sexual orientation, he took a
#schoolchoice
scholarship to a private school in Florida - and now he's flourishing!
This parent DESTROYS teachers union boss Randi Weingarten to her face for lying about her fight to keep schools closed during pandemic.
"I hear no remorse whatsoever about the generational damage that's been done.”
50% of the
#DemDebate
participants went to private schools ... 5x the rate of the general population
Give ALL families the same options and opportunities as these Democratic candidates!
#SchoolChoice
Biden
Buttigieg
Castro
O'Rourke
Yang
ACT scores are at 30 year lows
42% of students taking the ACT met NONE of the "College Readiness Benchmarks"
National Report Card data shows 66% of 4th graders don't have basic reading skills.
The K-12 system is broken.
Time for fully funded school choice for ALL families.
Chicago Public Schools official:
"The Chicago Teachers Union refuses to even discuss a return to in-person learning, even as hundreds of private schools in Chicago are open."
NEW National
#SchoolChoice
Poll:
65% of likely voters support school choice
-72% of K-12 parents who work full time
-74% of African Americans
-71% of Latinos
-82% of Republicans
-69% of Independents
-55% of Democrats
Business Model: The Teachers' Unions
1. Take money from K-12 employees' paychecks (coming from your tax dollars)
2. Fund political efforts
3. Negotiate with lawmakers they elected to...take more of your tax dollars
Repeat.
“We’ve already given schools 110 % of what they usually receive from the federal gov't...Parochial schools are open with a fraction of that money. Charter schools are open...Issue is not money. That issue is teachers unions telling their teachers not to go to work."
#SchoolChoice
Teachers are incredibly important. But if they walk out of classrooms for union-organized STRIKES, no learning happens
Families disrupted
Special needs children are massively disrupted
Lower-income families can't get childcare
We need
#SchoolChoice
!
The nation's largest teachers' union released their "playbook" for Biden/Harris and Congress.
No surprise: they attack
#CharterSchools
and private
#SchoolChoice
with the usual lies.
Translation: "We don't actually care about what's best for families. We just want power."
Pretty incredible watching a bunch of politicians ANGRY that a young girl is getting the chance to go to the school of her choice.
Meanwhile, same politicians went to private school and sent their kids there. Hypocrites.
#SOTU
Teachers' Unions Logic:
-No in-person learning (but pay us extra for childcare)
-Restrict remote learning (and ban any virtual charter schools seeing enrollment boom)
Not shocking that new models for remote learning/ homeschooling/
#SchoolChoice
are exploding w/parent demand
BREAKING: New national
#SchoolChoice
poll:
72% of registered voters and 78% of parents say K-12 parents should have the most or some influence over what schools teach.
Only 21% say parents should have no influence.
cc Terry McAuliffe
If you thought a lot of people moved to Florida in the past few years...
Wait until they find out about how now ALL K-12 kids are eligible for school choice (~$7,600 per kid per year to be controlled by parents).
This original article is amazing, bashing charter schools, bashing the broader school choice push.
It's the "We Know What's Best" mentality that's failed our K-12 system for generations.
LeBron was speaking "Democracy to Power" (whatever that means)...
Me: “Why don’t you support school choice?”
Union-controlled politician: “Because kids will leave the district schools!”
Me: “…soo the schools aren’t good? Some parents wouldn’t go there if they weren’t FORCED to?”
Union-controlled politician: *crickets*
POLL: “Parents should have the right to remove their children from a failing public school and enroll them in a school that is succeeding academically.”
—83% support
K-12 government union bosses:
Nurses are quitting because schools aren’t open, because teachers’ unions / the K-12 establishment are trying to extract political demands (whereas private schools have been open since September)...so a HOSPITAL STARTED ITS OWN SCHOOL.
Families need
#SchoolChoice
NOW
Another daily reminder that the teachers’ unions only care about power and control, not giving families access to a great education:
"L.A. teachers union says schools can't reopen unless charter schools get shut down"
Teachers union talking point: "We've been defunding education"
K-12 spending per-student:
1970: $6,403
2017: $15,424
Where is the money going?
Time for
#SchoolChoice
As heartwarming as it is to see... if they had SCHOOL CHOICE to begin with, parents could have taken their own tax dollars and sent their kids to a school not beholden to anti-science teachers unions.
Person: "No public money for private school vouchers!"
Same person: "Cancel student debt!"
Essentially - "Give lawyers a check for private school tuition...but keep lower and middle income families trapped in K-12 schools they don't want to go to."
One HUGE reason the
#SchoolChoice
revolution is exploding today is because of teachers (and bureaucrats) like this who truly believe they are not accountable to the parents of their students.
Anyway, thanks for the free school choice advertisement 👍
Unbelievable. Alexandria City Public Schools is all-virtual this fall...so the *superintendent* pulled his daughter out and put her in a private school with partial in-person learning.
Guess who said this?
"Fully funded vouchers would relieve parents from the terrible choice of leaving their kids in lousy schools or bankrupting themselves to escape those schools."
Answer -->
@SenWarren
Crowd at
@TPUSA
ERUPTS when
@realDonaldTrump
mentions fighting for
#SchoolChoice
.
He says "Who can be opposed to that??"
Answer: Those who have been in control of our $800 billion K-12 education system for generations.
CDC getting sued for not fully complying with open records request showing teachers’ unions manipulating school reopening guidance.
What else is in the infamous emails? What did they redact?
The GOP has a massive opportunity to fight for school choice across the country. COVID has really underscored how broken our public schools are and how determinative zip code and income are to a child’s success.
.
@elonmusk
, if Twitter doesn’t want your $43B, you could also take on another entity that centralizes power & thought:
The K-12 government school monopoly.
Just an idea.
#schoolchoice
BREAKING
@UnionReport74
: Despite the billions they take from the paychecks of school staff each year to fund their massive political operation...
The teachers' unions received $26-51 million in small business paycheck protection loans!
Oregon teachers unions are BLOCKING online education. Other states are barely getting online learning up & running.
Wouldn't it be nice if the unions stopped smashing these
#SchoolChoice
options? This
#coronavirus
transition would have been FAR easier on the families & teachers!