The most important domestic subject that I FAIL to adequately cover is K-12 education. It's potentially the most effective tool we have for increasing vertical mobility in our society -- and hence is currently misused as the best single method to repress disadvantaged minorities.  

What the education unions and their bought-and-paid-for Democrat allies have done to inner city black and Hispanic kids would warm the cockles of any KKK Grand Dragon.  The Progressives' steadfast opposition to improving education angers me every time I think about it. 

Thus I include intact below an excellent op-ed on the topic from the LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS.  It's upbeat -- giving the growing success of the school choice movement in all its many flavors.  

Sadly, California is one of the least successful states in this effort to improve education.  All we hear from CA liberals is that we don’t spend enough.  But the growing popularity and acceptance of school choice in other states is going to make it more and more difficult for our voters to ignore this innovation.  

Real education reform will not come through our Democrat whores in the state legislature, but rather through the initiative process.  If not this year or next, then soon.  And each time we fail, we will at least force the unions to spend many millions defending their turf -- a win-win strategy. 

BTW, properly structured, the savings to taxpayers can be huge!  Plus, turning much of education over to the profit and nonprofit sector would help gut the education unions -- a key factor in returning fiscal sanity to Sacramento.   

http://www.dailynews.com/opinions/ci_19779002  

LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS  

School choice reforms are more vital than ever

By Alan Bonsteel and Larry Sand

Posted: 01/19/2012 06:09:55 PM PST

Updated: 01/19/2012 07:57:45 PM PST

AS we honor National School Choice week beginning Sunday, one fact stands out: 2012 marks the year when there can be no turning back in school choice reforms.

Last July, The Wall Street Journal dubbed 2011 "The Year of School Choice" because of legislation that had been passed all over our nation. For example, North Carolina and Tennessee eliminated caps on charter schools. Maine passed its first charter school law. Twelve states either adopted new voucher programs or expanded existing ones. After first turning its back on the popular D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program, Congress reconstituted funding for it.

There is no reason to think that the momentum will slow down in 2012.

Much of this "revolution" began with the 2010 midterm elections, which saw the selection of legislators and governors who believe that school choice is a way to improve education and save precious tax dollars at the same time. Interestingly, what was once almost solely a Republican issue has been joined by some courageous Democrats who have begun to push back against the powerful teachers unions and other organizations like the NAACP.

By challenging these traditional political allies, they have transcended politics and embraced choice as a civil rights issue. Any political partisanship that divides us must remain secondary so that we can devote every ounce of our collective will to quickly prevail in what is without question the most crucial battle of our time.

How can anyone say that kids should be condemned to go to the school down their street, no matter how poorly that school may be functioning and no matter how violent it may be? How can anyone refuse a family that can't afford full tuition to a private school a return of some of their tax dollars to help defray the costs of that private school?

How can anyone deny a parent who chooses to send their child to a charter school that does a better job of educating because it does not have to abide by the onerous union/district contracts that restrict teachers in traditional public schools from doing the best job they can do? Why should a child be forced to go to a public school where there is no accountability for teachers?

Nowhere is lack of school choice more damaging than in our inner cities, where kids are trapped in separate and very unequal public schools that have inflicted high dropout rates on black and Hispanic youths. Many of these families have single-parent households who desperately need to send their children to the best school they can to ensure that the cycle of poverty will not continue. As such, the right to choose the best school for all children is the unfinished mission of the Civil Rights movement.

Despite the fact that public education in many quarters is in catastrophic shape, countries like China and India regularly clean our clocks in international competition. And despite being in the midst of an unemployment crisis, we still have school choice foes - those who are being served by maintaining the status quo - poorly performing teachers, teachers unions, inept school boards, useless bureaucrats, etc. But as time goes on, they will be marginalized as the public comes to realize that education should center on the child, not the adults who are in charge.

School choice is hitting critical mass. However, it is absolutely crucial to the future of our nation that we win as rapidly as possible. Education is an issue that trumps all others, because nothing else that matters can be accomplished if we fail to teach our children well.

Freedom of choice in education is no less precious than the other basic American freedoms we cherish - freedom of speech, religion and assembly. We must prevail quickly so that our great but troubled nation, conceived in liberty, may long endure.

Alan Bonsteel is the president of California Parents for Educational Choice. Larry Sand, a former classroom teacher, is president of the California Teachers Empowerment Network