Burdened by desire for fiscal accountability and the needs of students, Utah’s largest teacher union has filed a lawsuit to have the state’s new school choice program declared “unconstitutional.”
While the gall of a public sector union leveling accusations of “constitutionality” about anything at all is hilarious, the lawsuit only drives home a point that is becoming daily more obvious: teacher unions are the enemy of parents.
Utah Lawmakers worked together to establish the Utah Fits All Scholarship program in 2023, with the crisis of public education during the pandemic still visible in the rearview mirror. Extended school closures and “remote learning” – all aggressively pushed and extended by teacher unions – are bad memories lingering with parents across the country. If parents did not expect educational options before COVID-19, they certainly do now.
Utah’s legislature heard the message loud and clear, and acted on it by creating a scholarship program, “providing up to $8,000 to eligible Utah K-12 students for education expenses including private school tuition and fees, homeschooling, tutoring services, testing fees, materials, and other expenses.”
Predictably, empowering parents brought weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth from Renée Pinkney, president Utah’s NEA affiliate.
“The voucher program diverts funds from already underfunded public schools, where 90% of our children learn, and places vulnerable students at risk by stripping away protections and accountability,” Pinkney said. “This alarming situation should raise serious concerns about the future of public education in Utah.”
The situation certainly does raise serious concerns about the future of public education in Utah, and Ms. Pinkney is correct in saying citizens should be alarmed.
Unaccountable, unelected teacher unions continue to siphon money out of the public education system to politically oppose the will of parents.
It really is that simple. There is no need to argue about the details of Utah’s education budget. Parents believe they should have a say in public education, which is at odds with the self interests of teacher unions. When parents mobilize to demand a voice, teacher unions leverage their stranglehold on public schools to oppose parents through lobbying and lawfare.
The good news is that the parental rights movement is only gaining steam. It is a matter of time before even larger numbers of angry, determined parents awaken to antipathy of the teacher unions, and turn on the lawmakers who enable their predatory use of public education.