A recent Saturday Night Live skit went viral because it highlighted the problems that everyone can clearly see within the education system. The skit jokingly declares, “COVID broke something we can’t fix.”
As a retired public school teacher and mother of school-aged children, I doubt parents are concerned. The reality is dire for many and the need to address the brokenness of our education system is urgent. That’s why school choice has become one of the most important issues in Missouri and across the country. Parents are not just content to keep their children in a school environment that will take years, if not decades, to repair. While we all recognize that something needs to be done, the students who are struggling in our local classrooms need help right away.
So when Missi Hesketh throws parents and their desire for school choice under the bus to score political points, parents aren’t laughing.
Long before school choice was a hot topic, I was confronted with this challenge head-on. My daughter, Izzi, attended kindergarten at the public school in our neighborhood, but because she uses a wheelchair, she did not have access to any part of the playground. She couldn’t reach the cafeteria tables. She couldn’t use the sink because it operated with a foot pedal. When we presented these challenges to her team at the school, we were told that these adjustments and modifications could not be addressed for “just one student,” but that they could be incorporated into the building’s five-year plan. By the time changes would happen, our daughter would be in a different building.
No parent is willing to sacrifice five years of their children’s lives to a plan that must be implemented now. The only choice we really had at that point was to find a better environment for her right away. With a teacher’s salary, private school wasn’t an easy option, but keeping Izzi at her current school was out of the question.
We explored alternatives to educate her. We were fortunate to find an opening at a parochial school, where our daughter was welcomed by building a ramp to the playground the day after we enrolled her. The tables in the canteen are round, so she can sit at any table. The sinks are accessible. The most important thing for us is that our daughter feels like she belongs. Now she is in 7th grade, serves on student council, and is on the junior high cheer squad.
Today, Izzi is thriving, but I shudder to think of the quality of life she would have at a school that could only meet her basic needs within a five-year plan. My family’s story is unique, but we are far from alone.
Perhaps where Hesketh goes most wrong is in her suggestion that being in favor of school choice for kids like Izzi means you’re anti-public school. Nothing could be further from the truth. As a retired public school teacher, I have seen the school system work for most students. But what about the children on the margins who need something different? Those kids can’t wait for the system to fix itself, and they deserve better than to be told to simply hope that things change at the systemic level.
Public schools work for some students. Parochial and private schools work better for others. Homeschools and microschools are a great option for some families. Shouldn’t parents, who know their children best, be able to choose which educational option is right for them? I am grateful to Missouri leaders for giving families options instead of treating students like the butt of a joke.
Becki Uccello lives in Springfield.
This article originally appeared on the Springfield News-Leader: School choice should not be treated as a joke
