I’m not sure what I can add to this conversation that hasn’t already been said about the new School Choice legislation introduced this session. What I can offer is the perspective of a proud public-school graduate, raised by two public-school teachers, now raising a proud fourth grader at Woodley Elementary. My husband is also a product of public schools, and we credit that experience with much of the success we enjoy today.
We grew up surrounded by an incredibly diverse group of classmates and friends. We learned what it meant to be without—and to care for those who were. Being in classrooms with people who didn’t look like us, worship like us, or vote like us prepared us for college and for the working world that followed. Public school taught us how to live in a real society.
My greatest concern with “school choice” is that it nudges us toward a future of silos—environments where we are surrounded mostly by people just like us. I believe we are better as a society when we bump into difference, when we learn to live alongside people whose lives and experiences don’t mirror our own.
Several years ago, our local school system was not the shining example of public education that it is today. Instead of abandoning ship, our faith communities—including ours at Parkway Heights—adopted schools and went all in. When it came time to choose where our only child would attend, the answer was simple: we sent him to the very school we had already invested our time, energy, and hearts into.
What has that meant? It means our child learns alongside an incredibly diverse group of classmates. And when I attend school functions, I tear up a little every time—watching the world they are building together.
I understand that private school is a choice some families make. Education is deeply personal. My worry is what happens to our public schools when funding is diverted to private institutions that are not held to the same standards or accountability.
Just this year, Woodley celebrated its largest Junior Beta Club class ever—more than 40 students. I have no doubt next year’s number will be even higher. Woodley remains an A-rated school with the finest teachers and administrators I have ever worked alongside.
These teachers need us. They need us in their corner. They need us to show up.
What if, instead of focusing on school choice, we focused on fully funding our public schools—and paying our teachers salaries that honor their work and allow them to remain in the classroom doing what they love?
Because the future they’re building deserves nothing less.
Lee Anne Venable
