Tech Bytes – Tid Bits in Tech News: Desperately Seeking School Choice

If America is going to continue its leadership in the Information age, students of today must be prepared to meet the challenges of tomorrow. The best way to ensure this outcome is through school choice initiatives that may prove to be at the center of this year’s Presidential campaign.

American’s sclerotic educational system is ill equipped to make the advances in curricula demanded by the New Economy. Competition among schools will empower parents to decide what they want their kids to learn and how they want them to learn it. The possibilities of such dynamism are endless: education will be revolutionized by new techniques and courses.

School choice initiatives not only improve the education of students who choose to go outside the public schools, as demonstrated in Cleveland and Milwaukee, but will improve every student’s education as public schools are forced to compete to retain students. Such competition will ensure that no student is left behind.

High-tech jobs are in constant demand and pay salaries 85 percent higher than the national average. Yet, the American educational system must be fundamentally changed if these jobs are to be filled by our students. School choice would allow parents to ensure that their children receive the proper education and training from the time they enter the educational system. Such a solid foundation will enable American children to be competitive in the job market and perpetuate America’s high-tech leadership.