This isn’t an attack on public schools, just recognition of individuals’ different needs

When I attended public school, we got grades and not smiley faces. We went to detention if we misbehaved. We were suspended if we were bad. We were grounded if our grades weren’t good. Principals ran schools and teachers ruled classrooms.

Things are different today. Parents complain about the declining quality of education that their children receive and the increasing dangers that they face. Teachers complain about the atmosphere that they are forced to teach in. And taxpayers complain about growing costs and the lack of an educated work force.

Like an architect, we must turn our client’s vision into reality. Then we must communicate the vision to others with a plan. And, finally, we must build that plan on a firm foundation. In this case, the “clients” are parents, teachers and taxpayers. Their unifying vision is simple. They want every child —- regardless of income —- to have the ability to receive the very best education possible whether in their neighborhood school, a charter school, a magnet school, a home school or a private school. If the vision truly is to provide the highest quality education for every child, then parents, taxpayers and educators should put the individual child’s needs above the interest of the government and the pride of those who run schools.

Competition works. It built America. And, for the market to work, you have to have choice. I think Georgia can have the best schools in the world —- not just the United States. We spend an astonishing $135,000 for each child to go through our public schools. It’s not about money. It’s about improving outcomes.

Georgia’s plan to reach that vision is also simple. Existing tax dollars for education should follow the child to the school chosen by the parents. The budget and curriculum should be determined at the school level. And professionally paid teachers should be in charge of the classroom and held accountable for success.

The foundation of this plan is “choice.” Some express concern that this will harm our good public schools. Three major studies have determined that the children in schools that are exposed to vouchers do better than students in schools that have no choice. That’s because the schools work harder to improve to keep the students from walking out the door.

This is not about the children doing well in good public schools. This is all about the child in the back of the classroom who is struggling. Shouldn’t the parents of that child have the freedom to choose their own child’s school —- not the government? A choice to leave should not be seen as an attack on public schools, but simply recognition that all children are individuals and have different needs.

The best schools will be in communities that embrace educational entrepreneurship. We shouldn’t be trying to raise our test scores above Alabama’s. Georgia should be trying to raise them above Austria’s and South Korea’s!

We can’t fix traffic if our children cannot do the math needed to be an engineer. We cannot create alternative fuels if they don’t understand chemistry or physics. If we offer every parent the freedom to choose the best school and allow the funding to follow each child to their chosen school, Georgia will skyrocket to the top of every educational measurement.

> Eric Johnson, a Republican from Savannah, is the president pro tem of the Georgia Senate.