-By Israel Teitelbaum
Dear Lovers of Liberty:
The recent 40-year commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. has inspired many to seek fulfillment of the Civil Rights Movement he set in motion. As Bob Schundler points out, all of society rests upon the foundation of education. By improving education, all of society will be elevated. We are all in agreement that the Declaration of Independence was intended to grant individual liberty: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” And it was never the intention of our Founders to permit government to usurp the family, and financially coerce parents to send their children to government run schools.
The enormous damage this has inflicted, and continues to inflict day by day, is mind boggling. Children in one school have been told to cross dress, and countless others are subjected to videos that would be considered child abuse under different circumstances. The stats are dismal and so is our standing compared to other modern nations. Any business with this failure rate would have closed decades ago. Allowing freedom and competition is the very least we can do.
Consider the latest statement by Sen. John McCain: “Parents should be able to send their children to the school that best suits their needs just as Cindy and I have been able to do, whether it is a public, private or parochial school. The result will not be the demise of the public school system in America, but competition that will help make public schools accountable and as successful as they should be in a country as great and prosperous as ours.”
Whether or not he is your candidate for President, you can promote school choice by simply calling the office of Sen. John McCain to thank him for championing school choice and asking him to sponsor the Civil Rights Act for Equal Educational Opportunity. To reach him, or any Congressman and Senator, call 202-224-3121. Ask for Sen. John McCain and the operator will connect you. His recorded message gives you the option to leave a recorded message (1) or to talk to a member of his staff (2). Make your choice, and feel free to express your opinion in a respectful and convincing manner. Following is a suggested message.
“Thank you for your courageous leadership on the matter of school choice. Please sponsor the Civil Rights Act for Equal Educational Opportunity to require the states to provide equitable educational funding for children in both public and non-public schools, while respecting the liberty of schools in hiring and provision of services.”
Please call your favorite presidential candidate and ask him or her to do the same. For more impact, please call your U.S. Congressman and Senators and ask them to co-sponsor this legislation. It is well known that most legislation is the result of intensive lobbying. Unfortunately, we don’t have the funds to hire lobbyists. It is therefore up to everyone of us to place these crucial phone calls.
Thank you for any and all actions you take to move this issue forward.
All the best.
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Israel Teitelbaum is currently creating a new school choice organization to help further the efforts to improve our public schools. His blog will soon be up and running at SchoolChoiceVoter.org. Mr. Teitelbaum can be reached at israel@schoolchoicenj.org.