Thursday, November 10, 2011
Bishop McFadden: "School Choice is a Social Justice Issue"
Here is an excellent op-ed by Harrisburg, PA's Bishop Joseph McFadden:
Social justice flows from human dignity. To establish justice, our society must provide the conditions that allow people to obtain what is their due, including an education that prepares them to be productive citizens. Education is a basic human right. Our secular system of laws supports this principle, as every Pennsylvania child is guaranteed an education.
For parents, providing an education for their children is a moral obligation. When we look across the education landscape in Pennsylvania, however, we see that some parents, especially low-income families, have no choice but to send their children to a school that is not helping them reach their potential. This is why the bishops of Pennsylvania see school choice as a defining social justice issue for our time. . . .
https://mirrorofjustice.blogs.com/mirrorofjustice/2011/11/bishop-mcfadden-school-choice-is-a-social-justice-issue.html
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Historically, school choice programs (like vouchers) were justified as by values- schools teach children values, so parents should be allowed to send their children to schools that teach values similar to theirs. This was usually a justified of Christian parents. In later years, school choice programs began were justified with a social justice argument, described here. Since education is a fundamental right, it isn't fair for parents of a lower economic or social status to be forced to send their children to poorly performing schools. This argument is especially poignant now with the severe lack of proper education in the United States.
School choice programs have been approved, at least in a limited manner, by the decision of the US Supreme Court in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris. States are allowed to pass school choice programs that are neutral with respect to religion, where parents choose to send their children to schools (private or program) within the school district covered by the program. The program, to pass the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, has to be a program of "true private choice," meaning it has to be permit the participation of all schools within the district, religious or non-religious, and the benefits have to conferred on neutral terms with no reference to religion. Any benefit to religious schools has to be the result of a genuine and independent choice of private individuals.
I agree with the article that the programs reinforce the right of a parent to choose where their children get a proper education, but I question whether or not education is a fundamental right of the parent (although I'm not sure that is what the author of the article intended to say). In San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez, the Court held that there was no federal fundamental right to education or at least a certain quality of education.
I think that school choice programs could go a long was to increase the quality of education, and it would provide a remedy for parents and children who are forced into a poor quality education due to economic or social status. I think it has definitely become an issue of social justice, and its definitely time for state legislation to address the issue within the constitutional parameters set forth by the US Supreme Court.