By Christy Cooper, mom to a public-school second grader with Down syndrome
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When I was in elementary school, I asked my dad why he didn’t send me to private school. The only private school kids I knew came from well-to-do families, so those schools carried a prestige that I wanted.
“Because I already pay for your education. My hard-earned tax dollars pay for public schools!” He brought the same argument back up when I was 14 and desperately wanted to stop riding the bus to school. No way—”I pay for those buses!”
My dad had a bit of a chip on his shoulder about money being taken out of his paychecks. He dutifully paid all his taxes on time, but he felt a vested interest in how that money was spent. He passed that vested interest down to me. He also instilled in me reverence for the public education that our taxes pay for and what it could do for every child’s future, the economy, and society as a whole.
My dad died before he got to meet my kids—two public‑school students who benefit from a system that turns taxpayer dollars into brighter futures for all students. Now, that system is being subverted by the rerouting of public money to private schools. I support every parent’s freedom to send their child to a private or home school, but I don’t understand why they get to take public funds to institutions that don’t have reporting responsibilities to taxpayers. Especially not to schools that won’t accept students with disabilities, like my son.
While my dad’s philosophy was rooted in feeling like he was getting a good deal for his money, mine is colored by having a son with Down syndrome. Dad didn’t have to think about the importance of public schools to children who rely on IEPs and 504s, but I do. I’ve thought about every child’s right to a sound basic education every day since receiving my son’s Down syndrome diagnosis prenatally over nine years ago. Private schools don’t have to deliver on that promise; only public schools do.
My son is more expensive and complicated to educate, so many North Carolina private schools won’t admit him. His cognitive disability makes teaching him a significant challenge for educators – and his parents. But in an era where people with Down syndrome are living 60+ years, graduating from college, and working a variety of skilled jobs, a sound basic education is the baseline for preparing them for the world.
The North Carolina General Assembly has just filed several bills that either increase or decrease funding for vouchers. As we think about the implications of “school choice” throughout this short session, please remember that private schools only give my family as much choice as my dad gave me about riding the bus.