Sen. Tuberville: As Alabama’s students return, school choice is more crucial than ever

To Alabama’s students and families: welcome back to school!

September rings in a new school year for our state’s over 821,000 school-age population. Families are back into their routines—setting early alarms, packing lunches, riding the bus, waiting in the car line, attending pep rallies and after-school sports, and so much more.

The majority of my professional career was spent in the education sphere where I saw first-hand the impact schools have on students. I told my students then what I still say today: this country owes you nothing but an opportunity. And the key that unlocks that opportunity is education. As the ranking member of the HELP Committee Subcommittee on Children and Families, preserving our students’ futures is one of my top priorities here in Washington, DC.

Unfortunately, the status quo when it comes to education is not working. Despite the fact that we spend the second-most money per student of any country, our students are failing. Our progressive education system controlled by teachers’ unions has resulted in us being ranked 26^th in the world in math and 6^th in the world in reading. The pandemic revealed that many teachers are more focused on indoctrination than education. More and more, high school students today can tell you everything you want to know about the made-up “gender spectrum,” but struggle to read at grade level or do basic math.

This isn’t the case for all teachers, or even most teachers – but the bottom line is we need to get our priorities back in order. Student academic success should always come first.

One of the most crucial steps we can take toward solving this crisis is school choice.

So, what is school choice? School choice just means funding the student instead of the school building. Right now, we spend all of our money on school buildings, teachers, and administrations – not on the actual students. Our education system does not exist for the sake of teachers, principals, administrators, or even coaches. It’s not about our teachers’ unions; it’s about equipping the next generation of Americans. It’s about giving them the opportunity for a better and brighter future.

Whether it’s in football, business, or life, competition makes us all better. Kids deserve the best teachers. If we create more school choice in this country, perhaps more teachers would focus on training kids to read and write instead of on indoctrinating them. A rising tide lifts all boats. More competition will incentivize schools to improve educational outcomes to attract more students.

School choice also shifts control away from Washington to parents. We can’t have a one-size-fits-all approach to education. For some students, a charter school might be best. For others, homeschooling is the ideal learning environment. For others, the local public school is the best path. Parents know their kids best and have the innate right to make the best decision for their child.

This shouldn’t be a partisan issue. We all want to ensure the best educational outcomes for our kids. Earlier this year, I hosted a roundtable discussion with a dozen parents from across the country. The parents all said the same thing: they want to make decision for their kids, not the federal government.

What we’re doing isn’t working. Young people are our future, and America’s future is what’s at stake if we don’t get more school choice.

U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville is the senior senator from Alabama and a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans Affairs, and the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committees.