More Hypocrites Oppose School Choice

In the arena of public policy, who are the worst hypocrites?

1. Politicians who push for higher taxes while using clever tactics to protect their own money?
2. Preening celebrities who lecture us peasants about climate while they use private jets?
3. Politicians who send their own kids to private school while fighting against school choice?

I’m tempted to say the third group is the worst. And Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina and Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky deserve to be on the list because of what they recently wrote.

Here are some excerpts from their column in USA Today.

We’re proud public school graduates… That’s why we’re so alarmed that legislators want to loot our public schools to fund their private school voucher scheme. …In North Carolina, the Republican legislature passed a voucher program with no income limit, no accountability and no requirement that children can’t already go to a private school. This radical plan will cost the state $4 billion over the next 10 years, money that could be going to fully fund our public schools. In Kentucky, legislators are trying to amend our constitution to enshrine their efforts to take taxpayer money from public schools and use it for private schools. …The future of our nation goes to class in public schools, and all Americans must be on guard for lobbyists and extremist politicians bringing similar plans to their states. …We are going to keep standing up for our public school students to ensure that they have the funding they need, and that teachers are paid like the professionals they are. It’s what’s best for our children, our economy and our future.

There are many things to criticize about their editorial, such as the fact that they are kowtowing to teacher unions.

Or the fact that they ignore all the evidence about school choice producing better results for students.

They even imply that school choice is part of a segregationist agenda even though minority students would be the biggest beneficiaries.

So there are lots of reasons to condemn the editorial.

But the best critique is from Phil Kerpen. Here’s his response on Twitter (now X). Brief, but to the point.

It’s worse than disgusting.

P.S. In my list of hypocrites above, I should have included politicians in other countries who praise government-run healthcare but then run to the United States for their own treatment. And also bureaucrats at places like the IMF and OECD who get tax-free salaries yet promote higher taxes for everyone else.

P.P.S. Fortunately, Gov. Cooper’s awful views haven’t stopped progress in North Carolina.