Public schools across the country are approaching a “make or break moment” Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona told Politico on Sunday.
Cardona and other Democrats told the news outlet that public schools are facing a widespread crisis over the increased popularity of private schools and homeschooling in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Urban Institute found that enrollment in public K-12 schools dropped by over 1.2 million students during the first two school years of the pandemic, while enrollment at private schools rose particularly among kindergarten students and those in early grades of elementary school.
“We shouldn’t be promoting private schools because our neighborhood schools are not making the grade,” Cardona told Politico during a tour of schools in the Midwest and Great Plains regions. “We should make sure we’re working to support our neighborhood schools to make the grade.”
“If you erase the Department of Education or you fund private schools, what are you doing for the students that are in the local neighborhood school? I have yet to see a plan,” he continued, referring to Republican calls to abolish the department and other proposals.
Jorge Elorza, chief executive of Democrats for Education Reform said, “We’ve lost our advantage on education because I think that we’ve failed to fully acknowledge that choice resonates deeply with families and with voters.”