In the 1990s, I asked Milton Friedman how I should approach charitable giving. His answer was to invest in school choice, a concept he had invented decades earlier. At the time, school choice barely existed. Now, it’s exploding. Friedman’s advice was right on — my bet has paid off. Now, it is time for all of us who care about what’s best for children to double down.After years of beating our heads against the wall, the school choice movement has figured out how to win. Yes, we have to do what Friedman did: invent the concept and explain why it’s good through think tanks and newspapers such as this one.But we also have to take the next step. We have to put money behind political candidates who will champion school choice, and we have to defeat those who won’t. And we especially have to get rid of any Republican who refuses to get on board with the civil rights issue of our time.
I grew up in Queens, so I pay attention to New York, even though I’ve lived in Philadelphia for many years. New York spends roughly $37 billion to educate about 850,000 children. That’s over $43,000 per child per year. And the results are abysmal: Two-thirds of fourth graders can’t do math properly, and almost three-quarters can’t read at grade level. The numbers are similar in almost all of our major cities.
