Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham recently made national headlines by proclaiming New Mexico the first state in the nation to provide free, universal child care for families of all incomes.
On top of that, parents now have the freedom to choose whichever child care provider they believe best fits their needs. She has also repeatedly taken credit for using taxpayer dollars to cover tuition so students can attend any in-state college or university of their choice.
But when it comes to elementary, middle and high school students, the governor and her progressive Democratic allies refuse to give families the same freedom. Instead, they trap children in a failing public school system, locking them into their assigned neighborhood schools regardless of performance.
Only the wealthiest families can afford private school tuition or the long commutes often required for charter schools. Despite failing to provide New Mexico’s students with the very basic level of quality education, the governor seems to be happy to pour money into “add-ons.”
At a time when New Mexico’s public education system ranks dead last in the nation, this lack of choice is indefensible. For families who live in struggling districts, the message is clear: Your kids don’t deserve anything better.
If policymakers trust parents to choose the best child care provider for their infants and preschoolers and the best college for young adults, why won’t they trust those same parents to choose the best K-12 school for their children?
The answer is no secret: New Mexico’s powerful teachers unions. These unions have enormous influence over the governor and Democratic legislators, pumping campaign contributions and political muscle into preserving their monopoly over our schools.
Time and again, they put the interests of adults in the system ahead of the needs of children — ensuring New Mexico remains at the bottom in student achievement.
It doesn’t have to be this way. It’s time for universal educational freedom — where funding follows the student, not the bureaucracy. This would allow every family to direct their child’s education dollars to the school that works best for them: public, charter, private, parochial, microschool, online, homeschooling or alternative.
We don’t need more excuses for why this can’t be done. We don’t need more bailouts to protect bureaucracies that are failing our kids. When dollars follow students, schools will be forced to compete and improve — just as our colleges and universities have done for decades under a system of choice.
Rather than clinging to the power of unions, we need an honest discussion about how to bring forward a universal education freedom bill in the Legislature. Parents — not politicians, not bureaucrats and not union bosses — should decide how best to educate their children.
New Mexico’s children only get one shot at a great elementary and secondary education. For too long, we have accepted being last in the nation. It’s time to put kids first, trust families and finally give them the same freedom to choose in K-12 that they already have in child care and higher education. Doing nothing is no longer an option.